NC/TN Appalachian Trail - Section 15-16 - Max Patch to Brown Gap

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/3/2022	7.4 miles	5 hours 41 minutes	1,356'	1.8 mph	134.5

Parking: Max Path Road at AT crossing (room for 2 cars)

Maps:

• FarOut app (Guthook)
• Appalachian Trail Conservancy Tennessee-North Carolina Maps 3&4

Directions:

• Hike southbound (same side as the parking lot) on the AT to Brown Gap. Turn around and hike back to the parking area. Cross the street and hike northbound on the AT to Max Patch. Turn around and hike back to the parking area.

I took a vacation day today and off we went to hike. We chose a hike between Max Patch and Brown Gap. Since the distance was short, we decided to do it as an out and back. We started out at Max Patch Road (different than the main parking area to visit Max Patch). From there we hiked southbound to Brown Gap. This section has small PUD's (pointless ups and downs) down to Brown Gap. We checked out the parking situation at Brown Gap, as we still need to hike from Brown Gap to the northern edge of the Smokies. The road to Brown Gap is said to be a bit challenging (cars can bottom out), and we saw deep puddles in it. I'll ask around to determine how driveable it is with a regular car. 

After mostly going downhill to Brown Gap, we had to climb steeply back up. We were already tired from yesterday's trail maintenance. We took our time and were glad when the trail leveled out. A quick stop back at the car, and then we headed to Max Patch. More climbing, but it's only a 1/2 mile from the road to the summit. There were a few people on the summit, but it wasn't crowded. Yeah! We found a spot and plopped down and relaxed for an hour or so. Krummholz fell asleep on my foot, Glen read a physics paper, and I attempted to paint some of the mountains in the distance. It was a lovely end to the day. We had a good view of Bluff Mountain from our spot. Next time we're on Bluff Mountain, we'll have to see if we can see Max Patch from it.

We did get some haze in the distance. There was a lot of smoke coming up from a nearby mountain, and the strong winds were blowing it across the sky. Actually, Asheville was looking hazy today too. I've been seeing a lot of posts about controlled burns, so presumably that's what this was.

Sign for the main parking area (not for our hike)

Brown Gap

Showing off one of his tricks

Heading up Max Patch

Likely a controlled burn

Just a handful of the dozens of mountains you can see from Max Patch

The center right peak is Bluff Mountain - where we do our trail maintenance.
As we hung out, the smoke travelled more.

Just painting the ridgelines. Being creative with colors.

As the smoke filled the sky, it became harder to see all of the layers of mountains.