AN ENGAGING HIKE
Christy and I decided to do a trip by ourselves early in October. Well, we brought the dog, of course, but otherwise it was just us. I wanted to go to a special place, and we settled on Roan Mountain. Roan had been the destination of Christy’s second backpacking trip, and it’s one that we’ll never tire of.
We arrived at Carver’s Gap Saturday morning and the parking lot was almost full. It was cold and windy as we gathered our gear. Finally we hit the trail, and battled the crowds on the AT up to Round Bald. The clouds obscured our views, but the forecast was promising for the afternoon.
We hiked past Grassy Ridge and began the long, knee-pounding descent past "Bong Rock". This section of trail took us through deep forest, but there was no hint of color in the canopy yet. We left most of the hikers behind, but still ran into a number of backpackers. Christy and I were both having a tough time with the hiking. I just couldn’t seem to get a rhythm going. Sometimes that’s the way it goes.
We passed Yellow Gap and climbed the steep hill overlooking the barn shelter. The clouds were clearing, and the views were spectacular. We continued our hike up Little Hump. I had hoped to camp on the bald, but the wind was really blowing. One group was camped on the lee side of the mountain, on the side of the hill. That didn’t look comfortable, but the exposed campsites looked risky. I searched for a spot on the fringe of the woods, without much luck. Finally we decided to hike on to the next gap. I was pretty sure I remembered a campsite there.
We reached the gap, and found a pleasant spot in a Beech Forest. To make things even better, there was a spring another hundred yards down the trail. We settled in, and enjoyed a dinner of pasta and pesto.
After dinner, we hiked to a nearby summit for sunset. We found a great spot on a grassy hill situated between Little Hump and Big Hump. I named the spot Middle Hump, and we found a comfortable spot to enjoy nature’s evening show. The sun set behind Roan Mountain, and provided the red color that was still absent from the leaves. As darkness fell, I surprised Christy with a diamond ring. Well, she was surprised by the timing, at least. We stayed until dark. On the way back, Christy renamed our hill Diamond Hump, in honor of the occasion.
We spent the evening enjoying a campfire. The evening provided a perfect temperature, and it was nice just to relax. We could hear the wind howling all night, but we were secure down in the gap. Our campsite choice had been a wise one.
We slept in a bit on Sunday. After the traditional oatmeal breakfast, we started back. We had decided not to do a shuttle trip this time, so we’d have to save Big Hump for another day. We got more good views going back over Little Hump. Then we descended to Yellow Gap, where we met some guys coming up from the barn shelter. Apparently the barn had housed 20-some hikers Saturday night. He said that some folks arrived after midnight, and others left before dawn. Yes, we had chosen our campsite wisely.
We grunted our way up the big climb to Jane Bald. I was doing better today, even though the hike was more uphill. We passed some mountain ash trees full of red berries, which provided some color. Once at Jane Bald, we stopped for lunch. It was cool and breezy, so we didn’t linger long.
The last mile and a half took us through a series of balds with uninterrupted views. It seemed like we reached the car all too soon. It had been a wonderful weekend, in a place that is truly special to both of us.
Back to North Carolina's High Country
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!