We had a nice night at our site and headed out at 8am for a big day. We had a morning climb up to a summit called Little Rock Knob with some nice views. It was a rocky and strenuous climb. Anytime they name something a knob down here we’ve learned it is always a wicked climb and this was no different.

Little Rock Knob

We later began the 4 mile ascent to Roan Mountain. This was, in my opinion, the most challenging climb we’ve had so far. The last mile or so was extremely vertical with very few switchbacks (so it was pretty much just straight up the mountain) and really rough terrain and trail conditions. It was a lot of fun! There weren’t really any views on Roan itself, but it led to several balds with amazing vistas.

Round Bald

More from Round Bald

Jane Bald

A nice guy offered to take our picture

Looking back at the trail leading up all these balds (with large thunderhead chilling above)

The downside was that a large thunderstorm was threatening as we hustled across these balds. It seems like every time we approach a bald, a storm threatens. Oh well! It held out until we got off them thankfully, but we did get rained on for the last hour or so of our hiking day. Continue reading →

Happy Mother’s day! Continue reading →

We woke up this morning to more rain, so we took it slow and waited to pack up camp until it stopped. After that, we hiked down towards Uncle Johnny’s Nolichucky Hostel about 10 or 11 miles to get our mail drop. It started raining on us again pretty heavily around lunch, so it made the decision to stop here for the day pretty easy.

Nolichucky river. This cliff was really sheer.

Erwin from above

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Editor’s correction from yesterday – major major apology, the song stuck in my head was the theme song from Full House, not Family Matters. Continue reading →

Today was another hot and summery day down here with temperatures in the 80’s. That makes it a little tougher going. Despite not having any major summits again, we had some interesting sights nonetheless. We climbed a rocky knob called Big Firescald Knob that was very reminiscent of Pennsylvania with how rocky the terrain was. It reminded me a bit of the AT section off 309 from Knife’s Edge to Bear Rocks for the AT hikers from PA.

Scramble up to Big Firescald

Yea that's the trail

The 360 views from the narrow cliff on the Knob were fantastic.

Looking down into Tennessee

North Carolina side from Knob

The other cool highlight was a spot called Bald Ridge that was about a mile or so long meadow. It generated some nostalgia/deja vu for me for being a little kid…(for those in the fam, I think maybe it kind of reminded me of a huge version of the meadows on Uncle Wal’s farm?) Whatever it was, it was super cool and yet another good surprise from this trail.

Looking back on Bald Ridge

We finished up with a little over 20 miles for the day and camped stealthily on a ridge above the trail near this gap. Tomorrow looks pretty tough and we might get some rain in the afternoon, so it should be interesting as usual.

Vital stats :
Mood – relaxed
Physical state – tired, but good
Smell – delicate hint of old mayonnaise
Song stuck in my head – Theme song from Family Matters (I don’t even know how this sort of thing happens…)

We spent the entire day “zeroing” here, just resting and staying off our feet for the most part.

Elmer's Sunnybank Inn

Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn, the mansion above we are staying at which was built in 1840, has these great huge porches to just totally chill out on. So basically for most of the day we just relaxed on them, read, listened to music, etc.

Chillaxin on the rockers

One of Elmer's many bookshelves to peruse

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We camped in probably the windiest spot we could find last night. Thankfully it didn’t rain and it wasn’t cold! We headed out early towards Hot Springs and trekked over 9 mostly uneventful spring-like miles.

Morning sun

Trail descending to Hot Springs

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We had a much nicer night sleeping in the tarp and not at very high elevation. Our first ascent was up Snowbird Mountain. The FAA has a tower up there (looks like the one off Seemsville Road for my homies) and also apparently maintains the “bald” aspect by keeping it relatively mowed. It created a different atmosphere to the trail vs. the normal forest look.

Approach to Snowbird summit

Later in the day we summitted another even cooler looking bald called Max Patch. I think we were hiking in an area that used to be primarily used for agriculture because it had some old cattle fences and barbed wire and such. In any case, it had some unique views and looks. It seemed to be a pretty popular destination for day hikers, too.

Approach to Max Patch summit

On Max Patch

More Max Patch

Old pastures off Max Patch I think?

There was also a third mountain (Walnut) with a mostly clear summit.

Walnut Mountain summit

Pretty cool stuff today again. This trail is amazing. Continue reading →

OK last night was definitely the coldest night. Sleeping in the Smokies in damp pine forests at 6000+ feet elevation is quite chilly. Our food bags, which are hung on cables outside near the shelters, were frosted over this morning. I slept in shorts again. What is wrong with me? Continue reading →