[at-l] I've got a week free....now which section to do???

[janl2 at mindspring.com (Jan Leitschuh)]

Roan Mountain...>> It's really beautiful, but it's a really tough 
section for just starting
>> out on a section hike.


I digress, er disagree.
You're thinking like the fit hiker you are. It's tough only if you do 
it like a thruhiker.

Why not start at Carver's gap in the afternoon, and walk up the 
backside of Roan as a SOBO. Should take an hour and a half tops to 
summit with a little one - 2 miles. Take only dinner and breakfast and 
snacks.

Plan to camp AROUND (not in) the ranger cabin up there, back in some 
of the magical balsams, rock or moss ecosystems. You've just bagged an 
NC 6Ker.

The next morning, walk back down through the rhodies and flame 
azaleas, to your car and the bathrooms. Resupply, readjust your pack 
contents, do other business (breaking in a newbie easy).
Then, set off for the Humps with a day or two of food. Lots of flamers 
up there early to mid-June.

You could camp atop Grassy Ridge, an NC 6K-er.  Very low miles. Look 
for the secret campsite, via a rhododendron tunnel, off to the left. 
Plan a night with a good moon.

Or, wander slowly to Overmountain shelter. Spend a night there. Watch 
for the wild turkeys in abundance, and deer wandering below you, and 
clouds breaking over the rim. Then, wander back to the car going SOBO 
again.

Drive to Kincorra. Stay there, and dayhike the stunning Laurel Fork 
Gorge, swim, or camp there. Or plan to camp atop Pond Mountain near 
the spring, then come down the gorge. Bob People can help you plan.
With a younger child, low miles, frequent car resupply and large 
"oooh" factor can only increase their sense of enjoyment. One doesn't 
have to hike the AT in a linear, thru-hike manner to extract maximum 
value from the very best sections.

Of course, if it's cold and rainy, I'd head directly to Kincorra, 
unpack, and dayhike via Bob's shuttle, if he's still shuttling this 
late in the season. He's an excellent guide to the area, and would 
probably give you a job to do while hiking, being an inveterate 
maintainer.
Call him. In your handbook.
I've about convinced myself to go up there the first weekend in June. 
Anyone else feel like playing easy and looking at the wild flowers and 
shrubs at 6K?



Leslie Booher wrote:

> I'd second Roan Mountain!  sez Jan
>  
> It's really beautiful, but it's a really tough section for just starting 
> out on a section hike.  I don't know what kind of shape Leastun is in, 
> either.  OTOH, Laurel Falls is a good dipping hole and fills that bill 
> admirably.  Maybe, if you started on Top of Roan........   There's that 
> really ugly bit below 19E, then Pond Flats......  And, yet, there's 
> actually a beach at Watauga Dam, isn't there?  And a rope to swing out 
> on?  And a shelter nearby?  Something good might come of this, if Shelly 
> uses Bob Peoples as her tour guide. 
>  
> a'bear

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