Christy, Saucony, and I met Bob and Laura at the Roaring Creek trailhead last Saturday. Getting out of the car was quite a shock. It was only about 50 degrees, and the mountains above us were hidden in a cloud. We hiked up the old road lined with wildflowers. The firepink and spiderwort were especially impressive. We passed the old barn shelter in a thick fog before climbing up to a meadow and the AT. The meadow was full of Queen Anne’s Lace, much of it over head high. We turned south on the AT, and headed up through the woods. The thick fog made the forest look eerie and mysterious.
We hiked another hour before reaching the shelter at Low Gap. Christy and I stopped here for lunch. Shortly after we arrived, a huge group of northbound backpackers joined us. This was the first of many groups of hikers that we would encounter. At noon, the temperature was still only 55 degrees. What was it in Charlotte, 90? What we didn’t expect was that the temperature wouldn’t get any higher all weekend.
After lunch we climbed the biggest hill of the day. The trail was a muddy, eroded mess. By now, we were pretty much soaked. The vegetation was still dripping wet from last night’s rain. Near the top we reached a huge boulder with a mysterious object on top. Upon further inspection, we found a bong, a bag of weed, and a sign that simply said, "enjoy". I’m sure there’s a good story behind this. We had a good laugh, and the boulder will forever be known as "bong rock".
We climbed up around the nose of Grassy Ridge. We found the first blooming rhododendron and a spring here. The rhododendron was nice but well past it’s peak. A few minutes later we took a break at the top of Jane Bald. Just as we arrived, the clouds began to break. After hours of fog, it was great to have a view. It was still cloudy, especially on the Tennessee side, but we actually had a vista to the south. We hiked down to a gap and up to Round Bald. The entire area here is open meadows full of blueberry bushes and flowering shrubs. We had planned the trip here to take advantage of the rhododendron bloom, but the flame azalea stole the show. The fiery orange flowers were everywhere, and made the pink rhododendron seem boring by comparison.
By the time we reached Round Bald we were battling a steady stream of dayhikers. We even found some folks camping here, which was a little courageous on the exposed mountain top. Luckily for them there wasn’t any wind. The trail down from Round Bald is a recent re-route. The new path wound among the meadows, rhododendron, and through a section of spruce / fir forest. It is a huge improvement over the eroded manway the old trail followed.
We reached Carver’s Gap and hiked on into a thick forest of balsams. We climbed out of the far side of the gap, finally reaching the turn to the Roan High Knob shelter at 3:30. Bob had been concerned all day that we would find a huge crowd at the shelter. Instead, we found the place deserted. The shelter looked nice, but there was a great campsite in the balsams just below the summit. We set up camp there, and Kevin and Laura arrived a few minutes later. They wanted to join us for the weekend, but weren’t up for the 7.5 mile hike from Roaring Creek. Instead, they hiked up from Carver’s Gap where they were lucky to get a parking spot.
That evening we decided to hike over to the natural rhododendron gardens. Along the way we passed the old Cloudland Hotel site. The hotel was built here in the early 20th century. There’s only a little of the foundation remaining, but it was an interesting place to visit. We hiked on to the gardens, passing through two full parking lots along the way. The rhododendron was at peak bloom at this elevation (6000’+) and was well worth seeing. However, the crowds and vehicles definitely detracted from the backpacking experience. Of course, we had anticipated that, but we were still eager to return to camp. We returned to find a few other hikers had moved in for the evening. The shelter was still mostly empty though. That night, Christy and I enjoyed a dinner of chicken creole. Kevin had done his part by bringing the whiskey, which kept us warm in lieu of a fire. This was fortunate, as we had summer sleeping bags and little clothing, while the temperature fell into the 40’s.
Sunday morning started out much like Sunday – cool and cloudy. We hiked back the same way, but stopped in Carver’s Gap to use the toilet and filter water (separately!). The spring up on Roan High Knob had only been a silty trickle. There was a good spring out of a pipe near the parking lot at Carver’s Gap though. We also found a group of backpackers camped near the parking lot. It was a convenient spot I guess, but way too close to civilization for me. We hiked on, climbing back over Round Bald and Jane Bald. Kevin and Laura turned back at Jane Bald, but the rest of us continued up to Grassy Ridge. On a good day, Grassy Ridge has unbelievable 360 degree views. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good day. The fog rolled back in as we neared the summit. It was eerie watching the fog roll across the meadows. We did get some limited views as the fog came and went. Grandfather, Hawksbill, Table Rock, Big Hump, Little Hump, Big Yellow, Sugar, and Beech Mountains were all visible at one time or another. We had lunch at the summit among some large rocks, which blocked the wind. There was quite a crowd on Grassy Ridge despite the weather. At least it didn’t rain.
We returned to the AT and discovered several Gray’s lilies growing nearby. These lilies are rare and endangered, so it was a thrilling discovery to find them. Afterwards, we hiked back past bong rock. The rock’s namesake was no longer there. Apparently somebody had enjoyed it, as they had left the sign and empty bag. We continued our hike, and encountered another group of backpackers at Low Gap. This group was having a tough time. They had begun their week long trip from Roan gardens to Damascus the day before. Unfortunately, they had left the trailhead going the wrong direction. They had descended 3 miles to Hughes Gap and had continued up the far side before discovering their error. Luckily they were able to hitch a ride from Hughes Gap to Carvers Gap, so they were back on schedule, more or less.
We reached Yellow Mountain Gap and started down the trail to the car. It was wet and overgrown though, so we opted to hike back down the old gated road instead. We were almost to the car when 2 locals on a dirt bike roared past us heading up the mountain. This was illegal, annoying, and dangerous. I feared that they were heading for the balds of Hump Mountain to do donuts. So I had a little trouble hiding my glee when there bike broke down. 10 minutes later, they coasted past us heading back down the mountain. At that point, they were technically legal, since it was no longer a motorized vehicle.
We reached the car by mid-afternoon. It had been a good weekend despite the clouds and fog and 50 degree temperatures. We ended hiking almost 20 miles, so nobody had trouble enjoying dinner that night.
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