NC/TN Appalachian Trail - Section 7 - Carvers Gap to Hughes Gap

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
7/31/2021	7.3 miles	4 hours 29 minutes	937'	1.8	186.1

Map: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Tennessee-North Carolina

Parking: Hughes Gap and Carvers Gap (2 cars)

Directions: Start at Carvers Gap and hike to Hughes Gap. We took a detour to hike partway to Roan Knob.

I've wanted to see Roan Mountain, and there was no chance of rain today, so it seemed like a good day to do it. I forgot that the smoke from California would nearly obliterate the views.

We were a bit concerned that there might not be enouh parking at Hughes Gap (there is room for around 5 cars), but had no issue parking there at all. Carvers Gap on the other hand was very, very crowded. It's a 3 way intersection from what I remember, and we drove around until we found a space. There is a lot of parking there, but it was packed! We started on the AT southbound. Oddly enough, we saw very few people on our hike. And they were all backpackers. So, I'm not sure where all the people parked at Carver's Gap were.

I've seen photos of Roan Mountain - a bald with beauftiful views. Somehow, we didn't find it! I didn't study enouh ahead of time. I figured it would be obvious where to turn off the AT to see it. I thought it was a short distance from the AT. Like 500 feet. Well, we reached an intersection at the site of the Cloudland hotel (no longer in existence). We headed off the AT to a parking lot. We saw a sign for the Cloudland Trail and followed it to another parking lot. It continues another mile to Roan High Knob. Is that where the views are? We didn't want to add those 2 extra miles to our hike, so we turned around, and got back on the AT. I've heard this is a hard hike, but we did it southbound, which was pretty easy. The hike started out with a switchbacked climb, but it was so gradual, it was not bad at all. The hike then descends over 2,000 feet, but that wasn't bad either. So, I have to go back and study, and find out where the views are. We had some views, but not the views I've seen in photos. People flock to Roan Mountain wen the rhododendrons are blooming, so I'll definitely need to come back for that.