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

[fosterp599 at bellsouth.net (fosterp599@bellsouth.net)]

You have a great gift with the written word, Please keep them coming.  I've 
already said that Roan Mt. is my favorite section and you have just reminded 
me why.  Thanks!

First Pilgrim
Foster Parsons
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jan Leitschuh" <janl2@mindspring.com>
To: "Leslie Booher" <lbooher@pure.net>; "AT-List" 
<at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: [at-l] I've got a week free....now which section to do???


> 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
>
> -- 
> ========================================
>     AT Journal:
> http://www.trailjournals.com/Liteshoe/
> Jan Leitschuh Sporthorses Ltd.
> http://www.mindspring.com/~janl2/index.html
>
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>
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