Little Sam Trail (#347)
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Route map of the Little Sam Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app and depicted a la Google Earth...
Route map of the Little Sam Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app...
Little Sam/Flat Laurel Creek Trail Junction -- 5,500'
This is the northern terminus of the Little Sam Trail (left), as it departs the Flat Laurel Creek Trail about 1.2-miles from Black Balsam Road...
The trail will be gradually climbing for the next mile or so, and is fairly rough as it goes...
About a quarter mile above its northern terminus the trail passes through this rugged rock cut...
A brief break in the trees provides a look at nearby Mount Hardy (6,110')...
There's only on stream crossing on the Little Sam but it's a pretty one, as you'll see in the next couple shots...
Looking upstream at the crossing...
A quick vid taken just below the stream crossing...
In many places on this trail old, rusted cables protrude from the ground...evidence of the logging which took place in the area in the not-so-distant past...
One of the larger lengths of exposed cable...
Some of the larger outcrops along the trail are covered in these foliose lichen...
The most serious incline, which is a brief one, occurs just before the trail reaches the MST...
Just before reaching the MST there is a large rock outcrop you can scramble up for a view of the surrounding ridges...
Looking north from the top of the outcrop. Little Sam Knob (5,862') is the peak in the right...
Looking south from the outcrop you get a close view of the backside of Devil's Courthouse (5,670')...
Another view from the outcrop...
This middle-of-the-trail campsite is located just prior to the Little Sam's junction with the MST...
Little Sam/Mountains-to-Sea Trail Junction -- 5,750'
The Little Sam Knob Trail (left) at its southern terminus, where it meets the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in the vicinity of Chestnut Bald.
