Google Tag Manager icon Tennessee: Roan Highlands, Part Three Skip to main content

Featured

Starkweather Beer Company

 When I moved back to Madison to attend law school in 1987, we moved to a crappy little apartment near the banks of Starkweather Creek on the unfashionable east side.  Today, the east side is booming, and one of the newer brewpubs is called Starkweather Beer Company. It was Saint Pat's Day.  While Guinness is a decent light-bodied stout, I opted for Starkweather's dry Irish Stout, named "Jamestown Jackdaw." Coming in at 5.9 ABV, it had a malty chewable backbone.  It's a new favorite stout for me.  Julia had Late Winter Haze, a New England IPA that didn't have as much fruitiness as she likes in a hazy.  It was still well-executed. We walked down the street to the Harmony Bar, where Julia enjoyed a complete corn beef and cabbage dinner.  I opted for the Reuben sandwich.  Mine was washed down with an Edmund Fitzgerald porter from Great Lakes Brewing.  Julia enjoyed her Chaos Pattern IPA from 3 Sheeps Brewing.  Both are great beers. Justin update:   After a long h

Tennessee: Roan Highlands, Part Three


March 28th:
When I finished my hike back into Carvers’ Gap on the 27th, I talked to two older thru-hikers who described the opposite side of the gap as “horrible” due to icy conditions.  The weather forecast was for warmer conditions for the rest of the week, so I decided to put off my climb up to Roan High Knob.

I left my car at the Station parking lot at about 8:30 a.m.  They charge $10 for overnight or day parking/security, which rattled my frugal nature, but small businesses on the trail needs to make money in order to survive. Unlike a Carver’s Gap, there is no large parking lot here at the trail crossing. Running a craft beer taproom/hiker hostel/shuttle service is no picnic, so I didn’t let the fee linger in my thoughts too long.

It was about a half mile road walk downhill on Hwy 19E to the trail crossing.  The elevation here is much lower than Carver’s Gap, which meant I would be climbing all day to my destination at the top of Houston Ridge. As I hiked, I quickly realized that I was overdressed for the lower elevation and warmer day.  I went from full gear to a t shirt and long pants in about an hour.  I was running into thru-hikers who were down to shorts.

After a couple of miles, I left the woods and entered a clearing called “Doll Flats.”  It basically looks like a relatively flat farm field on top of the mountain, overlooking a steep drop off to small farms far below.  The faint call of a rooster let me know that I had not left civilization–yet.




I continued my ascent through the woods on the other side of Doll Flats, crossing from Tennessee into North Carolina.


This above sign is a fairly typical “highway sign” on the Appalachian Trail.  The translation is that, yes, you are on the A.T in North Carolina, and a water source is off to the right.  There is also an implication that this would be a good time to “water up” because there might not be additional water for awhile (up on the ridge).  I was still carrying 1.5 liters of water, so I kept going.

Soon, I was hiking above the trees on the long ascent up Houston Ridge.



Even though the temperatures were much warmer than the day before, the high winds caused me to put on another layer of clothes and my hat.  This particular stretch of trail was the primary reason that I traveled to the Roan Highlands.  The wind, the views, the solitude all combined to make me feel more alive than I had in sometime.


About halfway up the ridge, I saw a little dot on top of the mountain that I thought was a hiker coming towards me, but the dot stopped moving.  Then I saw it was an animal moving slowly back and forth (maybe a dog?)  Finally, I climbed high enough to see that it was a deer, standing like a king overlooking his domain.  I never did get close enough to photograph him.  I was worried he was going to run off while I retrieved my camera, so I just kept going, hoping that he would still be there when I got to the top.  The final ascent blocked my view of him, and then I joined him at the top.  He was motionless for an instant, making eye contact with me. And then he trotted nonchalantly off into the woods on the right, leaving the summit for me.   I have to admit that shivers went down my spine.  For a moment, I imagined being that deer, living on top of the world in that desolate, windy place.  Free.

Then the moment was gone.  I sat down behind a rock outcropping for some wind protection and ate my lunch (trail mix and water)  I lingered up there for about an hour, not another human in sight the entire time.


The trip down was much faster than the ascent.  I was back at the Station for a beer by 2 pm, ate a bbq sandwich in Roan Mountain at Dairyland (really good at $4.99, including cole slaw), bought groceries and firewood, and was back at the campground while the afternoon was still warm.  I cooked up the fixings for beef burritos and then sat by the fire with a water bottle of Ginger Ale and a splash of bourbon. I would be ready for the other side of Carver’s Gap on my final day.  Life was good.



Comments

Popular Posts