NC/TN Appalachian Trail - Sections 1-2 - McQueen Gap Road to Cross Mountain Road

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/15/2022	10.6 miles	4 hours 48 minutes	1,268'	2.3	812.8

Parking: 

• 1 car at McQueen Gap Road, 1 car at Cross Mountain Road

Maps:

• FarOut app
• Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Tennessee-North Carolina Maps 1-2

Directions:

• Follow the AT southbound from McQueen Gap Road to Cross Mountain Road

We drove up the Bristol, VA to work on an AT section over the weekend. We aren't going to finish the NC and TN sections as planned this year, but we just need 1 hike to finish NC and then 1 more to finish TN. We're going to wait until the spring when we have more daylight. But, in the meantime, we made more progress. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn - not as nice as some hotels, but half the price of nicer ones. We drove through the rural town of Shady Grove - whose claim to fame seems to be their annual Cranberry festival which was happening this weekend. We saw a sign - Don't change Shady Grove, let Shady Grove change you. 

McQueen Gap Road is a gravel road - the ruts aren't bad, but it is very rocky. We did okay in a regular clearance car though. It's a narrow road - one of those where you hope no one is coming from the other direction. We parked at the trailhead - the only ones there. Only 2-3 spots on the side of the gravel road.

We had a lot of wind - it was windier than I generally like hiking in, but we're here, so we hiked. Our hike was easy. There were ups and downs, but everything was very gradual. It is a rocky trail though, so I had to constantly focus on where I put my feet. We had great fall foliage, and a couple of small views through the forest. We saw more day hikers on the trail than we expected - since McQueen Gap Road was empty. Some mut have parked at Low Gap. 

The end of today's hike went through a 1/2 mile of pasture. It was hard for Krummholz to get over the type of stiles they had - he wanted to go around them through the barbed wire. Yikes. So, Glen lifted him by the harness (poor Krumm) over the stiles. There were many cows in the pasture next to ours, but only one in our pasture. It gave Krumm the stink eye. Krummholz was respectful and earned some cheese. I would definitely do this hike again - I love hiking through pastures for their views. A bunch of people come to just walk through the pastures.

McQueen Gap Road parking

Emergency shelter - listed as unmaintained. It's tiny! It could fit 2 people who are very cozy. 
It's supposed to be one of the oldest shelters on the AT, I think built in 1932.

The only flowers left for the year - gentians

Milkweed

Such great leaf color this year!

Double Springs Shelter

Krumm growled at a huge stump and down tree. So, we had to go make friends with it.

Start of the pasture walk

Challenging stile for Krumm

What a great place for leaf peeping!

The gates are actually wheelchair accessible. 

I've seen photos of this barn many times. So generous that they let the AT go through the pasture.

Oh boy, we have to walk by this one

The cow was happy after we passed

A tree came down across McQueen Gap Road during the day. 
Unfortunately, no saw in the car, so Glen is trying to push it out of the way for me.