Tanyard Gap to Rich Mountain Fire Tower, Appalachian Trail

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
1/5/2022	5.8 miles	4 hours 4 minutes	1,415'	1.6 mph	14.3

Parking: Tanyard Gap

Maps:

• Tennessee-North Carolina Maps 3 & 4, Appalachian Trail Conservancy
• FarOut app (Guthook)

Directions:

• From Tanyard Gap follow the AT on the same side as the parking area. Turn left at sign for Rich Mountain Fire tower. Hike .15 miles to fire tower. Return the same way.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges

• 100 Favorite Trails #42
• Lookout Tower Challenge

This is our 3rd failed attempt of hiking from Tanyard Gap to Allen Gap. The first time we went, there was no parking at Allen Gap, so we did an alternate hike. The second time, we signed up for a Carolina Mountain Club hike, which got cancelled. Today we tried again and were able to get a parking spot at Allen Gap. From there we drove our second car to Tanyard Gap and started hiking. 

It snowed earlier this week. We had been told that yes it snows in Asheville, but it typically melts the next day. That was true for Asheville. Allen Gap was supposed to hit 50 degrees today. But it was snowy. The trail started out mostly clear and then turned into snow and soft ice as we climbed. I felt like I was hiking in NY again, lol. I started wishing I had microspikes. Not just for the more secure footing, but our speed was slow as we were slipping. We decided at first to skip the fire tower, as we needed to average 1.5 miles an hour to finish our hike at a reasonable hour. I was going very slowly downhill. The trail was less broken past the fire tower, and then all of a sudden the snow was 6" deep, and only one set of footprints followed the trail. The trail has gotten a lot of traffic, but just to the fire tower, not beyond. So not only did we not have microspikes on us, but Glen was wearing trail runners, not boots. At that point we decided it was best to turn around. 

On our way back we did hike to the fire tower now that we had time. It's a nice sturdy fire tower with great views of the mountains. I had hiked to it with the CMC last year, but Glen had missed that hike. He was impressed by the mountain views from the fire tower. The clouds were also beautiful. 

The trail became clearer as we descended. Some of the ice and snow from this morning had melted.