Talk:Iron Mountain Trail - South

Hike reports given in reverse time order:

Friday Hikers, Iron Mountain Trail, August 13, 2010
Bob Harvey reporting
The hike of August 13 was on the Iron Mountain Trail, from and back to the point where U. S. 421 crosses Iron Mountain, about three miles south of the center of Shady Valley community. We hiked north for 4.8 miles, ate lunch, and returned. The total distance covered was 9.6 miles. There was a moderate amount of trash along the trail, and even more evidence of bear traffic -- we kept wondering if we would have an encounter with one, but the only wildlife we saw were a turkey buzzard, some unidentifiable birds and a tiny toad.

Hike Report - Iron Mountain Trail - April 12, 2002
Bob Harvey reporting
The hike of Friday, April 12, was along the crest of Iron Mountain from the unnamed gap where Tenn. Route 91 crosses the mountain to Sandy Gap, where U. S. 421 goes across. We began by hiking 0.4 mile on the Appalachian Trail, then 0.8 mile on a paved road, then 5.0 miles on the Iron Mountain Trail, which is Forest Service Trail Number 54. This trail is carefully maintained by the Mid-Appalachian Trail Club and from the looks of it, they have only recently removed some big blow-downs. The Friday Hikers Association usually has good weather for its hikes. Our luck ran out on this one, though; we got rained on for an hour or so and had to dig into the packs to bring out the parkas and umbrellas. There is only one good all-season vantage point on this part of the trail. The view is to the southeast, and the valley is the one that Tenn. Route 67 is in -- it's the road from Hampton to Mountain City. The total distance hiked was 6.2 miles.