I was bitten by the bug to do this hike ever since I read about it in Backpacker Magazine. Then I finally went with a group of friends and it was every bit as cool as I thought it would be. Lots of Appalachian Trail and high mountain views is what this hike is all about. Unfortunately for us, by the time we reached the high balds the clouds had us all socked in which left us with no views of the surrounding countryside but that’s okay because there were many other cool things about this hike.
We parked the first vehicle at Carvers Gap where we started the hike and the second vehicle at Mountain Harbor Hostel where we ended the hike. Mountain Harbour Hostel is a short road walk from where the AT crosses 19E.
The first shelter we passed on our route was called the Stan Murray Shelter which was the typical three-sided AT shelter. It was nice but the coolest shelter I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying at was the Over-Mountain Shelter. It’s basically a large red barn with a massive second floor loft capable of housing fifteen or twenty hikers and a first floor that could hold ten or fifteen. While sitting near the fire pit at this shelter, we had an incredible view of Roaring Creek Valley. There is a privy at Overmountain Shelter as well as a spring but I didn’t see either at the Stan Murray Shelter.
The next day we hiked up over the balds where the wind blew at 40mph gusts and the clouds had us socked in to the point that there were absolutely no views to be had. But it was beautiful in its own right.
We spent the second night at Doll Flats where we finally had a halfway decent view. This is a very large flat area with several campsites both in the woods and in the field, both with lots of room for several tents. There is a spring about .3 miles North of the campsites.
Great trip that I want to do again but hopefully the clouds won’t sock us in the next time.
I picked up an Appalachian Trail Conservancy map that had the trail information on it but I think this trail map should have the information on it as well.
MY GEAR LIST FOR THIS TRIP
| GEAR LIST |
| MSR HUBBA 1 – NEXT GENERATION IS MSR HUBBA NX TENT |
| MSR HUBBA NX 1 FOOTPRINT |
MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 45+ is now Mountainsmith Lookout 50 Backpack (Evergreen) |
| THERMAREST NEOAIR TREKKER SLEEPING PAD |
| THERMAREST RIDGEREST SOLITE SLEEPING PAD |
Snugpak Chrysalis 2 Sleeping Bag, Chestnut Red |
| SNOW PEAK TITANIUM MINI SOLO COOKSET |
| MSR POCKET ROCKET STOVE |
| GRAND TRUNK NANO HAMMOCK & TREE SLINGS |
| SEA TO SUMMIT ULTRA SIL NANO TARP PONCHO |
I found this really nice panoramic map on the internet.
Here are some links with additional information. Most places / maps I’ve found list the hike at around 13.5 miles give or take a few.
http://atctrailstore.org/
http://www.exploreboonearea.com/PlacestoPlay/Hiking/RoanMountainAppalachianTrailinSummer/tabid/354/Default.aspx
http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/roan_mountain.htm
http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/azaleas/other/roan2.html
http://hikingthecarolinas.com/roan.php
Cincinnati
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