Trip Report: Snow below the gnat line

 The Deep South....known for alot of things. Grits, sweet tea, Chickfila, Coca-Cola, the list goes on. One thing that is not synonymous with the south is a good old fashion snow. Every so often the jetstream dips just enough to give us a blanket of the white stuff, which will be replaced in a day or two with temps that every outdoor enthusiast lives for.
 +Jason Byers and I had recently competed an overnighter on the  the A.T from Unicoi to Dicks Creek Gap, we made camp at Addis Gap next to the old Mill Creek road bed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2NVG12ZwXM over the campfire that night we decided to revisit this spot on the bikes, seemed like the thing to do since the old road passed rite thru...Feb 2nd would be the day...
 After much deliberation (Snow started falling about 11:00) we decided to make a go of it ...after all, if its difficult and dumb why not?

Driving up Mill Creek towards the old dirt road it started to get a little slick so we decided to hop on the bikes here.

   

After just a few min on the bike we realized this was gonna be an all uphill type of adventure, but with cold fingers and frozen toes we pushed on.

                                                                      +Jason Byers

Jason B.

After crossing the forrest Service gate, we passed a hunter with a dog, we spoke briefly and he warned us of a nice patch of Ice hidden in a patch of snow just past the next little rise.

Sure enough he was right...I found said patch of ice and after what seemed like five min of sliding, I finally found myself on the ground...no harm no foul...and we got a good chuckle out of it.

we rode on till the snow got so deep and sticky it was beginning to bind our wheels to our frame

at this point we turned back and made the long cold descent back to the pavement, it was a cold but fun trip. Feels to me like a fella may consider investing in some cold weather riding gear if he's gonna take trips like this often.

Turning back into the road headed to my house....this day reminded me how the addition of snow, or the changing of the seasons can make a familer place look so different.

Next time the deep south gets a deep snow...skip the trip for milk and bread, get out and do somethin different. You wont regret it!

-saw em