Hello everyone!
Today I would like to share with you some pictures and video from a solo over night trek I took during Western North Carolina's recent snowstorm.
On January 23rd 2016 I hit the woods with the goal of making it to Big Firescald Knob, Mile 297.7 on The Appalachian Trail near the NC/TN border. I was on Firescald in snow conditions back in 2010 and knew it would be the perfect spot to get some pictures of the current snow event taking place.
The aim was to take a random National Forest road to intercept the AT from an unknown location I found on the GPS. The road ended up being more of a four-wheeler road, I had to cross a couple scary creek beds and the road ended up dead-ending at an un-crossable river/creek. Luckily I spotted a trailhead that I assumed would take me to the ridge on the AT I was aiming for. I assumed correctly but due to the knee to waste deep snow I encountered during the entire hike I couldn’t quite make it by dark. Right as the last light began to disappear I Had to dig myself a snow hole and throw up my Yamah Tarp. It was a very cold, snowy, night, when morning came I made it to my destination!
Below is a handful of pictures in sequential order and a video montage that gives you a nice look at what the conditions were like, and yes half way in to the video that is waste deep snow I’m trudging through!
Enjoy and thank you for following!
-Joshua Niven
