Roan Mountain Balds

September 26, 2021

Mike, Sherri, Cooper and I

So it is Sunday and Road Mountain is far for a Sunday but…..

Mike wanted to take our dog Cooper. We arrived at Carver’s gap. There were not many people here and we parked right across from the trailhead. That was a serious clue something was wrong. We stepped out of the car and Brrrrr. It was windy and cold! I was dressed wrong and didn’t have any other clothes. Luckily Mike takes lots so I borrowed one of his long sleeves.

I think I’m kind over picture taking. We didn’t even take a picture together except this one. I don’t have a picture of Mike or the dog.

Mike wanted to hike his own hike with Cooper so off Sherri and I went. We headed out and just kept going. The beauty of this place is hard to believe. The views are spectacular and there is very little or no signs of towns or people. Which of course is a plus. We love coming here.

Sherri and I love hiking balds. They are so beautiful. The way the trail looks heading over them, to the unobstructed views.

There is only 2 spots on this trek that have trees. In the beginning there is a cool balsam forest that is just beautiful. Then about half way there is a couple of rhododendron tunnels. Luckily the day warmed up and it was the perfect day to hike.

We hiked over Round bald, Jane Bald and to Grassy Ridge. It is almost at beautiful 360 degree views. This is our usual route although you can take the AT to Yellow Mountain, Big Hump and beyond.

When we got to Grassy Ridge I showed Sherri where Mike and I and the dogs camped the night of that horrible storm that terrorized me for quite a while! Lightning thunder. We were camped out in the open on Grassy Ridge. Then I showed here the other places we looked at camping. Where the trail ends (or so I thought) there is a path into the trees that I thought was a camp spot. We followed it and it dipped then kept going. We came to a rocky viewing area. A large deer was hanging out here and he either didn’t hear us (hard to believe) or he didn’t care. He just kept on grazing.

From here there were awesome views of Little Hump and Big Hump. We hiked them a while back. More awesome balds, but defiantly harder than these!

We turned around to head back down. We found Mike and Cooper just sitting on top of round bald. That’s as far as they went. They just pulled off the trail and sat down and just enjoyed the peace and the views. Probably took a nap too.

I think next time we will turn on the AT and hike that way a while. We will definitely return