Babymoon Redo – Day 2
This was the day I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint.
We started our morning with a Mountain Sweetie breakfast, which is like a Mountain Man, but with sweet potatoes in place of regular potatoes since our grated potatoes had browned during the drive/overnight. I LOVE Mountain Man breakfast; eggs, bacon, potatoes, onions, peppers, cheese is all just deliciousness. It is filling and the perfect way to start a day on the trail.
While not the closest point on the AT to Beech Mountain, I had narrowed in on hikes from Carvers Gap; which offered free parking and two very different hiking experiences. Option 1 was 4.7 miles out-and-back to Grassy Ridge Bald offering scenic overviews or Option 2 was 4.5 miles out-and-back to Roan High Knob through the forest and past the historic Cloudland Hotel grounds.
Because making breakfast was a bit of a production, we didn’t arrive at Carvers Gap until after 10 am to find the designated parking lot completely full. Thankfully a short way down the road was a clearing perfect for parking and saved the day.
I let Paddy choose which hike to make since I wanted to do both making it impossible to weigh the benefits of one over the other. He chose the hike to Grassy Ridge so we set off Northbound, as most AT hikers do.
Hiking to Grassy Ridge
It was a fairly open hike, with only a small portion of the approach to Round Bald being forested, offering almost continuous views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below whenever the heavy morning mist would break.
Ella sang and danced in her carrier on my back for the half mile from Carver’s Gap to Round Bald. We rounded the top of Round Bald only to be thickly blanketed in the mist and only offering views of white-grey walls; which was okay because we knew we would have to pass it again on our hike out later in the day.
Unripe wild blueberries, Grey’s lilies, and the rhododendrons Roan Mountain is known for lined our path as we descended down to Engine Gap, before beginning the strenuous climb up to Jane’s Bald. While it was nowhere near the bouldering done at Washington-Slagbaii, it was still challenging and mostly rocks. I am ashamed to say I didn’t even bother thinking about the views during the climb. My mind was solely on finding good footing and the endurance to make it to the top.
At the top of a climb, and beautiful bare rock face welcomed us and the mist broke long enough to snap a few pictures. We also took this opportunity to take a water break, change Ella’s diaper and strip off her long pants, and for me to make the most of a few minutes reprieve from the extra 25 pounds of weight on my back. I love my Ergo carrier and it works for so many different uses but it is not the best for long, difficult hikes.
The fog was so dense it was easy to forget that we had just climbed into the clouds.
Watered and rested, we were ready to continue on into the gap and onto Grassy Ridge Bald for an extended break and lunch.
Along the way we passed the actual summit of Jane’s Bald, which was much less appealing than where we had actually stopped. It was about this time that the openings in the mist began lasting longer and longer and the easy descent allowed us to enjoy breathtaking views while we continued our journey.
At 1.8 miles, it was time to break away from the AT and begin a half mile, 400 ft accent to the top of Grassy Ridge Bald. While this was the greatest elevation change of the hike, I found the climb up Jane’s Bald much more strenuous. The trail narrowed and seemed to continue to narrow as we approached Grassy Ridge. The length of the climb was the bigger challenge than the actual climb itself.
Remember this is coming from the viewpoint of a 21 week pregnant lady coming from Florida, where the is practically no elevation change.
I cannot put into words the beauty of the views from the top of Grassy Ridge. Truly stunning. We were afloat on a rolling sea of green. The air smelled fresher up here and the breeze felt more enveloping, cooling our tired, aching bodies. Everywhere we looked, there were breathtaking vistas.
Ella had fallen asleep on my back during the ascent but she shuddered awake when we tried to lay her down beneath the bright sun. As a mom, I always want her to get her sleep but I was glad she was able to revel in the surrounding beauty too. Plus, I could take cute pictures.
See, like I said, cute pictures.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, or in Paddy’s case second breakfast since he had grabbed the wrong homemade backpacking meal bag, then we roamed the top of the bald taking in views of Grandfather Mountain to the East and Mount Mitchell to the South.
I don’t know if a more perfect picnic locale exists.
Since I had clumsily spilled about half a liter of precious water after lunch, we knew it was time to begin the trek back to Carver’s Gap. The clouds had completely lifted by the time we summitted Grassy Ridge Bald so we soaked in the beauty of the surrounding mountains as we steadily made our way back to the car.
Round Bald was gloriously clear when we arrived and once again took advantage to have a water break and let Ella stretch her legs while I stretched my back. What had seemed unpresuming on first pass, turned out to have equally lovely panoramic views. Ella enjoyed the extra freedom we gave her due to Round Bald offering more even terrain, grassy knolls to sit and play in, and more distance from dangerous ledges.
Once more, Ella sang and danced on my back from Round Bald to Carver’s Gap. Although it was the least impressive part for Paddy and I, I feel safe saying it was Ella’s favorite section of the hike.
Overall, this hike only contributed 1.8 miles towards my goal of 100 miles on the AT before my 30th birthday but I couldn’t imagine a more enjoyable way to begin working towards my goal. Even Paddy had to admit it was better than the AT stretch we did in 2015 in Virginia. We couldn’t stop commenting on how pretty the views were and pretty doesn’t even begin to properly describe them.
The one caveat about this hike is that it is crowded; it is not the hike to commune nature and get away from it all. We were passing people all day long. Even surrounded by nature, it was like being at a tourist attraction or in mall.
We made the hour drive back to Beech Mountain, stopping in Elk Ridge for some ice cream before returning to camp. Once at camp, everyone fell back into what had quickly become our little routine. Ella boldly scampering down pathways, Hildi disappearing and reemerging on the trail while I try to encourage Ella to sit and play in the flowers so I can rest my tired body. We reheated the left over rabbit stew from the night before in the dutch oven for another healthy camp meal before calling it a night shortly after sundown.
Check out Day 1 of our Babymoon Redo and continue the adventure with Day 3!
Do you have a favorite hike on or off the AT? What makes a good hike in your book?
