Roan Mountain, TN

The woods can be scary. Particularly at night or during a storm, when one of your senses has been neutralized and you're at an uncomfortable disadvantage - you're comparitively weak, slow, and clumsy to every animal watching you. You can't see or you can't hear. You're defenseless.

More than night or rain or snow, the eeriest condition for hiking is fog. Thick fog. The hike I had planned for last Sunday was ambitious - I intended to hike the ridgeline of the Roan Highlands along the TN/NC border. This stretch of hiking along the Appalachian Trail (AT) meanders through dense spruce forests and wide-open grassy balds which provide fanstastic 360-degree views for miles and miles. It's a great hike.

I was closely watching the weather the days prior to my hike and realized that, given the rain moving into the area, the views wouldn't be as spectacular as normal. But, resolute, I had a plan and stuck to it. As I left the small town of Roan Mountain and climbed higher and higher onto the mounain itself, the fog became denser by every foot of elevation gained. By the time I parked my car at Carvers Gap on the TN/NC-line, visibility was at about 50 feet. That was the best view I had all day.

As I headed northbound on the AT, I climbed the ridge toward Round Bald, and should have seen sweeping views of North Carolina; instead, I saw this:

The fog was so thick that judging distance was almost impossible. My camera was stowed in my pack most of the time because the thick fog and mist driven against me by the powerful winds soaked everything. By the time I reached the top of Round Bald and hiked on toward Jane Bald, photography was impossible.



Round Bald, 5826'



As I walked blindly along the AT, I crossed onto the rugged Jane Bald and from there to Grassy Ridge Bald. All the while, I was treated to the same view, with my visibility limited to 20ft, at best.



 A stunning view into NC.

I completed my hike at Grassy Ridge Bald and made great time on the way back, navigating the trail I couldn't see. As I reached the top of Jane Bald once again, I heard voices below me on the ridge. A woman yelling at a man. As I walked within view, the woman called me over to them. The couple had set out for a morning run at 6:00 and had gotten lost in the dense fog; I came upon them at 12:00. They knew they needed to head southbound on the AT to reach their car at Carvers Gap, but this stretch of the AT, though technically southbound, headed slightly north. They were so confused. It didn't help that the trail they were hiking wasn't the AT, but a spur trail below the ridgeline. I guided them back to the AT, gave them my map, and pointed them in the right direction. The frustrated woman and the embarassed man ran into the fog without so much as a thank you.

I stopped in the forest for a quick break on the way back, snapped a few pictures as the fog lifted from among the trees, and hiked my way back down to my 4Runner. Though the views weren't quite what I had in mind for yet another epic blog post, the hike was refreshing and it was the first time I've been cold in months - it felt great. I can't wait for winter.

Oh, I almost forgot. Obligatory knife picture.

Thanks for reading!