Carver's Gap to US 19E, northbound

May 24, 2013
14.8 miles
9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

We have been hearing a lot about the breakfast at Mountain Harbour. Almost every hiker who came in during the last few days was disappointed when they found out that Mary was not cooking breakfast. Post cards on the wall of the hostel from successful thru-hikers say it was the best breakfast on the trail for them. We’ve been here three nights and finally, Mary is cooking breakfast. We were the first to go up to the house and had the pleasure of talking with Mary and Terry while we drank coffee and they finished cooking breakfast. It was indeed the best breakfast ever. Quiche, cinnamon rolls, apple dumplings, biscuits, sausage gravy, fruit, and more. Awesome!

 Well, the day we have all been waiting for – our hike across the Roan Highlands.  We have been hearing from the northbound hikers who come into the hostel about this hike.  Each one has a different tale to tell.  Some have been over it in the rain, some in the scorching sun.  But all have told about the rocks and roots coming down into the final gap. 

We reached Carver’s Gap at 9:30 in the rain.  We started back up the trail we had traveled once before.  Good thing we took pictures before because we could not see much this morning.  It was nice to make it further this time. It was still rainy, foggy and windy. 




Here is some history from the Revolutionary War in 1780.

As we reached the trail to Overmountain Shelter the rain stopped and sun came out.  The wind was slowly blowing the clouds away and we could see more of the scenery. 

Overmountain Shelter

The clouds finally began to lift and we could see the scenery.

The Overmountain Shelter is named for the Overmountain Men, American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. They are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780.  At Yellow Mountain Gap the Overmountain Victory Trail crosses the AT and is part of the 330 mile trail used by the frontiersmen as they marched from Abingdon, VA to Kings Mountain. 

The Shelter is a large, red, converted barn once used as a backdrop for the movie "Winter People." It is an interesting shelter.   
 

 

 

 

I kept looking back at the shelter as we went up the mountain. 



Little Hump Mountain (5459') and then Hump Mountain (5587').  This area is quite possibly the most beautiful scenery on the southern trail.  Hump Mountain stands high above the surrounding hills and the view of its valleys seems to go on forever.  Words cannot express how beautiful it is.  Our AT guidebook says that the origins of the balds are a mystery to scientists.  Some say it is the harsh conditions at high elevations, while others claim Indians cleared the mountains for religious ceremonies.  Many believe extensive grazing and cropping led to treeless summits.  

One peak on Hump Mountain is Houston Ridge where a plaque can be found honoring Stan Murray, the former chairman of the ATC and originator of the Appalachian Greenway concept.  A shelter 2.2 miles south of Overmountain also carries his name. 

As we climbed the Hump, it was so windy it was difficult to stay on our feet. We felt so fortunate that we had a clear view though, we knew that did not always happen.  Each time we reached the top of a bald we were in awe of the beautiful view, then went up higher for more.  I really had a hard time getting up Hump Mountain because of the wind.  When I finally reached the summit there were some big boulders there for us to get behind for some reprieve from the wind.  We were joined by a young man who we had been leapfrogging with all day.  After a short break, we continued on.  The young man was ahead of us, when he went over the top of the mountain, we heard him give out a whoop.  When we got there, we knew why.  We had not reached the summit yet!  It kept going up more!  What a surprise.  Hump Mountain was more mountain than we knew. 

 

After the balds, we had some forest and pasture-land hiking and went through Doll Flats where we saw a sign “Leaving North Carolina.”  We will be in Tennessee until we reach Damascus, Virginia.  No more North Carolina. 

We had a great time and a wonderfully beautiful day going over the balds.  But what we had heard so much about – the roots and the rocks - was yet to come.  Yes, the descent was rough, but well worth it.  We reached Highway 19E in good spirits after almost 15 miles.

We left Mountain Harbor and drove up to our next hostel, Black Bear Resort. It is located on the other side of the mountain from Hampton, Tennessee, just a short distance east of the trailhead.  Kincora Hostel is about the same distance west of the trailhead.  I hear that Kincora is a popular hostel because the owner is so involved in trail work. Black Bear is in its second year of operation and overall is a very nice facility, operating also as an RV park and campground.  They have a bunkhouse and also cabins to rent.  We chose a cabin with a refrigerator and microwave. We were surprised to find that there were no sheets on the bed and we had to pay extra to get some.  We had spent enough nights in sleeping bags and wanted to be able to stretch out on the beds more than our mummy bags would allow, so we opted for the sheets.  Other than that, we had a pleasant stay at Black Bear for the next few nights.
 

So much rain lately, my feet got awfully muddy.

 

Zero Sick Day

May 21, 2013
0 miles

Our makeshift campsite on Round Bald.

The next morning we had to make ourselves wait until a decent hour to call Mr. Terry to come pick us up.  We painstakingly packed up the tent and gear and walked back the 1 mile or so to Carver’s Gap.  When we got cell phone service we called and thankfully, Mr. Terry was coming to Carver’s Gap anyway so he could pick us up.  It was a sunny morning and we snapped a few pictures from Round Bald as we went, just in case we didn’t have this beautiful weather next time we came.  As we waited miserably for Terry to get there at 9:30 we talked to a couple of guys who had camped right beside the bathrooms/parking area at Carver’s Gap.  Too bad we didn’t see those campsites the night before.  I would have been forced to use one of them even if we don’t like camping close to the road.

Trekking back to Carver's Gap to get a ride.

Could it be that we had contracted the dreaded Norovirus?  It had been talked about a lot this year on the trail and lots of people have suffered with it between Hot Springs and Erwin.  It is so famous, that someone evidently held a private ceremony for it under a tree. 

The view from Round Bald.

We dragged ourselves up the stairs at the hostel and fell into the wonderful king size bed in our semi-private room.  We slept most of the day.  Other hikers came and went in the common room and we heard them, but didn’t see too many folks for the rest of the day. 

We were able to keep down soup and crackers a little later in the day, but had no appetite for anything else.  We called Mr. Terry and told him that we would not be needing a shuttle the next morning.  We were too weak to hike.

A look at Carver's Gap from Round Bald.

Greasy Creek Gap to Carver’s Gap

 

May 20, 2013
10.4 miles
10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

 

 Mr. Terry from Mountain Harbour drove us down to Greasy Creek Gap to go north this time.  We had an opportunity to meet Connie, the owner of Greasy Creek Friendly.  Seemed like a nice lady, and folks we met who stayed there said it was a very friendly place. 

Oh my gosh! Tough day today.  The climb up Roan Mountain I thought was going to kill me.  We went from an elevation of 4034 at the gap to a high of 6275. The first half was not too bad since it had lots of switchbacks; but the second half was steeper and very hard.  We saw markers that looked like they are planning to make more switchbacks in that section, which is a very good idea.   



 

 

A view from Roan Mountain



A view from Roan Mountain



On Roan Mountain

 

Our Thru-Hiker's Companion told us that this is the last time the AT climbs above 6,000 feet until Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, and it is arguably the coldest spot, year-round on the southern AT.  It was not cold today.  It also said that at the top is a parking area with restroom and running water (May – October).   As we approached the top we saw signs telling us that there would be no water or facilities at Cloudland until May 23.  Too bad for us. 

We entered a clearing with a monument telling us that this is the site of the former Cloudland Hotel.  The Tennessee-North Carolina state line ran through the center of the hotel when Cloudland was a thriving resort in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  This allowed the sale of alcohol on the Tennessee side and the comical tale of North Carolina police officers patrolling the other side. It was demolished in 1915 after loggers harvested the fir and spruce on the mountaintop. 

The site of the former Cloudland Hotel on top of Roan Mountain

Rhododendron bushes flourish on the top of the mountain and there is a popular garden on the top of Roan when they are in bloom around June 20.  We did see a few bushes just starting to pop out into bloom all along the trail, but missed the peak season.

 When we got to the top of the mountain, I was feeling so bad and was so tired I could hardly walk, and could not eat a thing.  We made it to Roan High Knob Shelter. Another young man caught up with us there and was in total agreement that it was a hard climb up the mountain.  Unfortunately for us, the water source was downhill from the shelter and Wait-up had more climbing to do to get to it. 



Roan High Knob Shelter

Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest on the Appalachian Trail and was originally an old firewarden’s cabin.  This explains the four walls and the door, unusual for shelters.  The young man was staying at the shelter, but we had to push on so that our hike tomorrow would not be too long. 



 

We had heard so many good things about the Roan Mountain area being so beautiful that we were looking forward to it; so far we have been disappointed.  I had not seen any beauty yet.  The trail down from Roan Mountain was an old railroad bed with lots of rocks.  We trudged along.  We met a man with a large camera coming toward us who told us that we were about to come to the balds and they were beautiful.  We reached Carver’s Gap without seeing them yet, finding out later that they were on the other side of the gap.   

We crossed Carver’s Gap and sat beside a fence on the other side for Wait-up to eat supper.  I again could not make myself eat anything, my stomach was really feeling bad by this time.  He suggested us calling for a ride to go back to Mountain Harbour, but I thought if I could just get to a campsite and go to bed I would be fine.  So we proceeded up the hill to try to get to the campsite 2 miles down the trail. 

The good news is, we finally found the beautiful bluffs, I just couldn’t enjoy them because I was feeling so bad.  So bad, in fact, that I got to the point I could not walk another step.  I had to stop.  We were on top of the first bluff called Round Knob.  We began to look for a place to pitch the tent.  We wandered around for awhile trying to find a level spot and finally gave up. We pitched the tent off the trail on top of briars and roots and on a slant.  It was the best we could do. 

Not long after we got into the tent, Wait-up had to throw up.  Huh?  I was the one that was sick.  Now he was too.  He threw up 3 times during the night.  I finally threw up too and felt a little better after having done so.  But we didn’t sleep much that night and knew that we would not be hiking the next day.

Carver's Gap

 

At Carver's Gap

 

A road from Carver's Gap goes up to the gardens.