Everybody was AT Hiking: Iron Mountain Gap, TN/NC, to Cloudland Trail to Roan High Bluff (June 15, 2019)

We had planned to hike to Roan Mountain last weekend because we had heard the rhododendrons were in full bloom up there, but last weekend was a constant monsoon, so we didn't get up there. We decided to try this weekend, hoping we'd still catch some pretty rhododendron. Yesterday was a perfect day for hiking. The forecast was partly cloudy with temps between 56 and 76. We ended up with mostly sunny, and the temps were spot-on. It's been a rough couple of weeks, and I was looking forward to spending a day not having to think about anything except putting my foot in places where my ankles wouldn't get twisted.

We spent Friday night at Mom's house to give us about an hour of extra sleep before heading out at 5:30 to get to the trailhead by 8:30 (we prefer not to start later than that when we're day hiking due to the length of our hikes).  We took two cars, dropped one off at  the parking area for the Roan Mountain rhododendron gardens, then drove the other to Iron Mountain Gap, which was the starting point of our hike.

The life of a section hiker involves lots of pre-dawn driving, either following another car or begging third parties to get up before dawn to help shuttle you.

As we drove up to Roan Mountain, it was just after sunrise, and the morning sun was shining on the foothills and the towns below the mountain.  The views driving up the mountain were absolutely amazing (I could've wrecked my car looking at them). I had a passing thought while we were driving up, up, up that we were about to turn around, take a car back down, and then hike back up, which was going to be a LOT of climbing, but then I thought that if these views wouldn't motivate you to finish the hike, nothing would.  If you want to meet God where he lives, go to the top of Roan Mountain at sunrise on a clear day.  It feels like you could shake His hand.  

Anyway, obviously, my main goal for any hike these days is to add AT mileage.  Aside from that, the goals for this hike were (1) see the rhododendron in bloom (Roan Mountain has a pretty famous rhododendron garden that is supposed to be amazing when they're in full bloom); and (2) see the outstanding views from Roan Mountain.  From where we started, though, we had a LONG way to get to either of those things.  Rhododendron aren't blooming right now at lower elevations, and obviously the views aren't great from lower elevations.  

I will say that this was probably my least favorite AT hike to this point (but that's definitely relative; my least favorite AT hike is still better than just about anything else).  Although we did eventually get the pretty flowers and the great views, they were actually on a side trail off the AT.  We hiked the AT from Iron Mountain Gap to the Cloudland Trail on Roan Mountain, which was right at 14 miles.  I then took the Cloudland Trail to the rhododendron gardens and Roan High Bluff (and to our parking area), which was another 2.5-ish miles out to the Bluff and back to the car (Ben skipped that part; more about that later).  The AT portion of the hike was, for the most part, just walking through the woods.  There wasn't a ton of cool stuff to see on that portion, with a few notable exceptions:

Cool hollow tree

Tigger enjoyed the views from Little Rock Knob.

And so did we.

Tig finally found a little stream to cool off in.

I don't know what type of fern this is (or even if it's a fern, really), but I think it's cool.

Little glimpse of some views we'll get later.

This tiny baby fawn was bedded down right next to the trail!  I planted my hiking pole right next to it and was startled because I thought it was a cat at first.  SO cute!  Ben and Tigger had already passed it, and Tigger didn't even know it was there (luckily).

So for this weekend, I accomplished my main goal of more AT mileage, but that was definitely the means to the end that I was really looking forward to, which was the Cloudland Trail.  Unfortunately, Ben didn't get to enjoy the Cloudland trail, as the 4-mile steep climb to end our AT hike portion almost (but hopefully didn't) cause an injury to one of his feet/ankles, so he and Tig stopped and hung out in the picnic area at Cloudland while I did the out-and-back.  Today's hike was a "Darsi-style" hike with lots of climbing and very little downhill.  Unfortunately, because Ben and I are polar opposites when it comes to our hiking strengths, a Darsi-style hike is pretty difficult for Ben.  Ben has ruptured his plantar fascia at some point in the past, and when we were about halfway through that 4-mile climb at the end of the AT portion of our hike, his foot and ankle started feeling similar to the way it did just before that rupture, so he was having to be really careful to make sure he didn't do it again.  It didn't help that about 1/3 of the climb was made up of actual steps made from large stones, requiring him to modify his push-off technique to accommodate the injured foot.  I felt really bad for him but was also pretty freakin' impressed because, up until the last mile, we were maintaining a solid 2-MPH pace, even on the climb.

Anyway, back to the Cloudland trail.  I was practically running on the way out to the Bluff because I didn't want Ben to have to wait too long for me, and it was a bit of a climb out there, so it was my style of hiking. 

View of the old Cloudland Hotel site

Rhododendron on the Cloudland Trail

Views from Roan High Bluff at the end of the Cloudland Trail were amazing. 

What a perfect day.

On the way back to the parking area, however, I finally hit my wall.  I was coming back downhill (never a favorite), and my knees were feeling it.  I will say that the bottoms of my feet were feeling better on this hike than they have in the past.  I tried a pair of trail runners instead of boots for the first time (well, I broke them in on a 5-mile hike as week or so ago, but this was their first real test) because they're supposed to provide extra cushioning.  I've heard that, if you're carrying a heavy pack, you need a boot or something else with more support than a trail runner, but most of the through hikers we've seen this year were wearing trail runners, so I figured there must be some advantage to it.  I did notice that one of my ankles was feeling a little weak toward the end of the hike, so I think I missed a little bit of the support that my mid-height shoes provide, but my soles didn't feel nearly as  bruised when we got to the end.  I guess there's always a trade-off.

 

But I digress.  Again, back to the Cloudland Trail...

 

These are some bushes in the rhododendron gardens.  Obviously not in full bloom at this point, but still pretty.

Honestly, though, the prettiest rhododendron I saw were the ones growing wild outside the gardens just along the Cloudland Trail.

I can't believe I've lived in Tennessee my whole life, went to school in Johnson City for two years, and have never been to Roan Mountain before.  It's really one of the most beautiful places in Tennessee and probably in the whole southeast.  It was just really enjoyable, and I highly recommend that you check it out if you haven't been.  For those who don't want to hike a million miles to get there, there are parking lots AT THE GARDENS and within .7 miles from the Bluff.  If you want a slightly longer hike, you can park at Carver's gap on the AT and hike south about 1.5 miles to the Cloudland trail and then do the 2.5-mile out-and-back.  On my way back from the Bluff, I met an older couple who were slowly making their way out to the Bluff from the parking area, and the gentleman asked me if the Bluff was worth the walk.  I told him I had hiked 15.5 miles to it and still thought it was worth it, so I was pretty confident he would be glad he made the 1.25-ish miles from the parking area.  I would give any of you the same advice.

~64 miles down; ~2,126 to go.