Story:
My girlfriend and I decided to explore the Roan Mountain area and a short section of the AT starting at Carver's Gap.
My girlfriend and I decided to explore the Roan Mountain area and a short section of the AT starting at Carver's Gap.
As we drove into Roan Mountain, TN off of Hwy 19 we parked our car at Mountain Harbour. A small bed and breakfast/ AT hostel near the intersection of Hwy 19. The elderly couple gave us a ride to Carver's Gap. After some good local conversation we began our trek to the parking area of High Knob at Roan Mountain. We decided to walk up the road 2 miles in the cold wind following a young newlywed couple. This was not included on my gps (I started at the parking lot).
When we got to the to the parking area two miles up the road, we found the rest of the old foundation to the Cloudland Hotel, which was built in the late 1800s and offered rooms to the big players of that time. We continued on to follow a trail to the Rhododendron Garden, which consisted of mostly sidewalk and some trail. The gardens were beautiful and to the left there was an amazing overlook.
Afterwards we continued 1.2 miles up a trail to High Roan bluff. The view was amazing and the wind gust were at least 50 mph that day. This is when the flurries began falling. We didn't last long up on the bluff so we hiked back to the parking lot and had lunch. We then hiked 2.5 miles down the AT trail to Carver's Gap taking a short stop to talk to a Thru-hiker at the High Knob Shelter.
After a short stop for some pictures at the North Carolina State line we began our 13.7 mile AT adventure from Carver's Gap to HWY 19. The trail crossed the road and continued up about a 400 ft. elevation gain to the first of the balds. This section of the AT was beautiful at near 6000 ft. above sea level. As we wound up the top through a gravel hiking trail you got a great view of Roan Mountain. At the top we stopped to take some pictures at Round Bald and continued on to Jane Bald and a third Bald (I can't remember the name). The views from each of these balds in nothing short of amazing. Each giving you a full 360 degrees of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The hike to each of the these saw a modest amount of elevation gain and by the third one we were ready to get the rest of the 3.7 miles to the Stan Murray shelter. The trail traversed down the ridge switchbacking through the woods with these huge patches of yellow and white wildflowers. We finished the day at 13 miles give or take.
We arrived at the shelter right before sunset that we enjoyed together before setting up camp and cooking Mac and Cheese for dinner. There were two other through hikers at the Shelter (Sweet and Low ~ The diabetic duo) with us that night. Although everyone headed to their tents ASAP because of the freezing temperatures and the wind. We spent the night trying to remain warm.
The next morning we made breakfast and packed up camp talking with the same through hiker we met at the High Knob shelter. We finally left camp around 11am to complete the 11 miles to Hwy 19. The trail progressed through the woods for the first part of the climb and then opened up into the balds again after Yellow Mountain Gap where the Overmountain Men hiked through the area during the Revolutionary War. We hiked up the hill for some photos and could see the second shelter (Over Mountain Shelter) which was an old barn .2 miles off the trail. We then set off to climb the rest of the 1st bald (Little Hump Mountain), which was grueling. About a 1,000 ft. elevation gain over 2 miles or so. We came through the treeline and again had a 360 view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and 50 mph wind gusts. We took a short break at a group of rocks near the top, but not for long because of the intense wind. We hiked down to the bottom of the meadow and went into the woods were we passed two more campsite before coming out near the lower side of the first bald to begin our climb to the top of Hump Mountain.
The climb to the top of Hump mountain can only be described as brutal. Although, the high winds and low temperature might be influencing our description. The hike was straight up with a 300 ft. elevation gain in about .25 miles. With the wind this was easily the hardest part of the hike. From the top of Hump mountain you got a perfect view of Grandfather Mountain, Sugar Mountain, and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. There was also a campsite right at the highest point of Hump Mountain.
We then began our decent through the rest of the balds. The rest of this section of trail was rolling until turning to left near a fence line back into the woods.Then we began our trek back down the ridge hiking through the woods. We stopped for lunch at the first campsite to the left then continued over some rocks in the trail which were more than hard on the knees. During this section of the trail we saw very interesting vegetation and began to notice that there were more Oak leafs the closer we got to Hwy 19. After winding down the trail and dropping almost 1500 feet in elevation we came across a clearing were there was a campsite and a few opportunities to get a view of the vista down around Hwy 19. As we winded down the rest of the ridge we came to a creek which flowed towards HWY 19 were we completed our trek with a .3 mile walk down the road back to Mountain Harbour and to the car. We took a short break at the hostel were we ran into most of the through hikers we saw on the trail. We wish them a safe journey..... Until the next time. :)
Tips:
1. Mountain Harbour offers a great shuttle service for section hikes.
1. Mountain Harbour offers a great shuttle service for section hikes.
2. Prepare for gusty winds and chilly weather all year round.
3. Plenty of spring water available along the trail.
Tags:
Appalachian Trail, tennessee, north carolina, Roan Mountain, vistas, strenuous, Hump Mountain, Carvers Gap, Backpacking, Hiking, trail
Appalachian Trail, tennessee, north carolina, Roan Mountain, vistas, strenuous, Hump Mountain, Carvers Gap, Backpacking, Hiking, trail
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