Weekend on the AT: Carvers Gap Redemption Hike + Jones Falls Hike

I had the most magical weekend in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains on the Appalachian Trail. On Saturday I got my redemption hike at Carvers Gap and on Sunday I pushed through sore and tired legs for an awesome out and bak to Jones Falls. And in between I enjoyed the sweetest overnight at Mountain Harbor Bed & Breakfast. I am working hard at training for TransRockies in August and this weekend’s hikes were needed confidence boosters for me.

My friend Elizabeth (who is also my teammate for TransRockies) texted me late last week asking if I was up for another Carvers hike along with a “hair of the dog” hike the day after. I immediately replied “YES!” and scrambled to get my gear together. It sounded like just the kind of training weekend I needed.

I spent Friday night packing my overnight bag and my hydration pack so that I was ready to roll for an early morning start on Saturday.

CARVER’S GAP REDEMPTION HIKE

My alarm went off at 4a on Saturday and I was in the car heading to meet Elizabeth by 4:40a. Thanks to the early hour there was zero traffic and what is typically a 2:30/2:45 trip took about 2:10. I dropped my things at Mountain Harbor and we were on the trail by 7a.

My first Carvers Gap hiking experience was back in February and it was one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I’ve ever done in my life. I wrote a long post about it at the time. I was feeling very ready to tackle Carvers again but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really, really nervous. The out and back from 19E to Carvers Gap is a 50K coming in just shy of 32 miles with nearly 9,000 feet of climb. It’s a tough hike even on a day that your body is feeling great.

The first six miles or so of this hike are climb so you are working hard right out of the gate. It’s mostly through the forest. It starts on a dirt trail and then becomes very rocky and more technical. The forest is very green and lush this time of year an I couldn’t get over the technicolor greens on this hike.

One unknown was the weather – we were really struggling with whether to do Carvers on Saturday or Sunday because the forecast looked so iffy. We thought we might have a day of rain, cooler temps and high winds but things really turned out better than we could have hoped. We did have some wild and crazy winds on some of the balds, but overall it was a perfect day.

We summited Hump Mountain at an elevation of 5,587 feet at 9:16a. On the out trip there was no view. There was one cool moment. where I heard something behind me and turned around to see a deer running across the mountain in the fog. It was so cloudy and very windy. We were in long sleeves + a rain/wind layer and gloves. Mountain Weather said there were 45 mph winds on Hump Mountain Saturday and the “real feel” was 39 degrees. I did not plan to be so cold on May 31 but it was great prep for Colorado this summer where we will experience all four seasons in six days!

We made our way back into the forest and then over the bald for Little Hump Mountain.

The next stop was a quick offshoot to tag Grassy Ridge. It was sooo windy but starting to clear up at this point.

We started our final stretch towards Carvers Gap that would take us over Jane Bald. The views on this hike are just insane.

As is the flora.

We made it to Carvers Gap right at 15 miles and 5.5 hours.

I dug a PBJ and an apple out of my pack and ate it as we turned around and started back. I had had some energy chews and a bar before this (and a big breakfast in the car). For whatever reason I find it so hard to chew and swallow a sandwich out on the trail and it probably took me 20 minutes to eat this in small bites. I find the apple to be so worth it to carry in my pack – it’s so palette cleansing and refreshing (and a great natural source of carbs).

Views. For. Days.

And so many other cool things to see like this little cave built into a rock.

I rarely take a caffeinated gel but packed a Gu Roctane for a mid afternoon pick me up. This flavor tasted like chocolate frosting.

This is the Yellow Mountain Gap Overmountain Shelter at about mile 22. This is an offshoot trail from the AT and a popular place to camp. Note: this hike is SUPER popular for backpackers and you absolutely do not have to do the whole thing in one day. There are so many cool camping spots along the way.

We had two more big climbs to go back over Little and Big Hump. You can barely see the trail winding through the grass in this photo but it’s a 0.9 mile climb up. And the wind was bonkers – we had to stake our poles in to brace ourselves from not being blown sideways. It was a slooooowwww slog to the top.

DID IT!!!!!! Climbs D-O-N-E.

Winding along the top of Big Hump and about to start our six mile descent back to 19E. There was big rain in the distance but luckily it missed us.

Back into the forest for our final stretch.

So much magic in the big and small things out on the trail. Had to stop and shoot this cute little snail doing his thing on the side of a rock.

And had to stop and shoot these massive rocks.

With about 3-4 miles to go, Elizabeth and I decided to do our own thing and just meet back at Mountain Harbor. She wanted to cruise and do some running – I was happy to keep walking.

It was honestly so peaceful and I felt a wash of gratitude to feel so much stronger for this hike compared to the last one. Don’t get me wrong, I was so tired and ready to be off my feet but it was a happy kind of exhausted.

I had to sit down to adjust my shoes/socks. I somehow ended up with a blister under the ball of my right foot even though I’ve never had one before wearing this same combo of socks and trial runners. I think our feet just go so wet early and I had something in my shoes and the combo rubbed a raw spot. For Colorado, I am going to pack a dry pair of socks in my pack every day with cornstarch sprinkled in them. Blisters are no joke and can take you out.

I’ll admit that I did talk to Virginia on the phone for the last 35 minutes of this hike. She texted to ask about my hiking and I was getting service so I called her to catch up. It was a FANTASTIC distraction!

Mostly, I was over the moon to step off the trail smiling instead of bursting into tears this time. I hobbled my way across 19E and back to Mountain Harbor.

What a day.

12 hours
31.84 miles
8,622 feet of climb

I think my OG trail runners are officially being retired after this hike (or at least relegated to shorter outings). Hard to believe I’ve logged hundreds of miles in them since connecting with these hiking friends last summer.

OVERNIGHT AT MOUNTAIN HARBOR (EPIC BREAKFAST!)

A hot shower did me wonders and then I headed down to grab a bite to eat at Mountain Harbor’s food truck/restaurant.

We cozied up at the bar with our waters and had a great time chatting with the owners and other hikers. Elizabeth and I split a mushroom swiss burger and a chicken, bacon, avocado sandwich. It was the perfect combo and salty fries were 100% in order after the day we had.

Crazy salt story – for the last few hours of our hike, I was having to pee every 20-30 minutes. I asked Virginia about it (she’s my resident health nerd) and she said it was likely my body shedding water to maintain its electrolyte balance. Obviously, that is not ideal as you need your fluids to stay hydrated so I am going to work really hard on nailing my electrolytes over the next couple of months. I had a 1,000 mg sodium electrolyte in my water bottles but Virginia said I probably needed at least 2x that. I’m going to play around with some salt chews like these.

I slept like a champion on Saturday night – which I was grateful for. Sometimes my sleep is horrible after hard endurance efforts but I really needed this rest. My resting heart rate was elevated but that was to be expected after the day’s activities.

The real treat at Mountain Harbor is their breakfast! They do the most epic spread and I was so excited to finally get to experience it after hearing so much about it from my friends. Breakfast was served at 8a and the offering was biscuits and gravy, French toast, an egg soufflé with hatch chiles, a cheesy potato casserole, tomato pie, ham, fresh fruit, bourbon pecan sourdough toast, a peach and cream cheese strudel, homemade granola and yogurt.

My plate and I went back for a biscuit with gravy and more egg soufflé. Everything was heavenly and we had the best breakfast conversation with a group of twenty somethings that were through-hiking the AT. They were about 50 days in.

If you want to stay at Mountain Harbor, they have several options.

• Two rooms in the main house with a shared bathroom. I’ve stayed in both rooms and they’re not fancy but perfectly comfortable. Warm beds, heat, air, hot showers.
• This treehouse in the photo above. It does not have electricity or plumbing.
• Tent camping.
• They are in the process of rebuilding their hostel. It was swept away in the hurricane.

19E TO JONES FALLS ON THE AT 

Fresh shoes for day two! I had to take a before shot while they were fresh and clean. I am obsessed with my Topo Mountain Racers and would wholly recommend them to anyone. Especially if you like a roomy toe box. I also love to hike in compression socks (y’all know I like to race and do long runs in them too). They’re so supportive and I think they really helped my recovery on Sunday.

Little stiff, little sore, little puffy in the eyes but ready to do it again! If I’m honest, I thought up several excuses why I was going to skip day two as I was going to bed on Saturday night but I woke up feeling renewed and way better than expected. I reminded myself that I was going to have to do this six days in a row in Colorado this summer.

We went the opposite direction on the AT from 19E and our destination was Jones Falls. This portion of the trail was a lot of woods and tree-lined grassy fields.

Tons and tons of devastation from Hurricane Helene on this portion of the trail.

I cannot imagine the work it took to get the trail clear in the aftermath of the storm. Huge gratitude to those that took this work on.

Jones Falls was beautiful. It’s hard to see the full scale of the waterfall in the photos but it’s pretty massive!

Elizabeth and I decided to split up again for the return trip and said “see ya back in Charlotte.” I thought I’d be slow and ambling and she felt like she could push. Well by some trial wizardry, I ended up finding a gear I didn’t know I had and ran 3-4 miles of the trip back out. What the what!? I felt great!!!

Elizabeth said I found my trail legs. Let’s hope those legs are on board for TransRockies.

Final stats (and dirty shoes) for day two!

3:51
11.68 miles
2,858 climb

CLOSING THOUGHTS 

• I am so proud of myself. I took a huge leap last summer when I put my introverted self out there to join this hiking group. I’ve made some really great friends and the whole experience has been nothing but rewarding. For years my dad has been telling me I need to get a hobby that’s not yoga (haha) and this has truly felt like coming home to myself. I’m not sure how many of you know this but I was a camp counselor for five summers during college (mostly in NC mountains) and I did a lot of camping and hiking in my 20s. I really felt like I lost the part of me who loved the outdoors during my 30s between work and new motherhood. I love it all – from getting up stupid early to drive to the mountains to the deep conversations we have out on the trails to getting dirty and exhausted  to the hostels and B&Bs – and much, much more.
• This weekend was a HUGE confidence boost for TransRockies. We have six days of 14-24 miles a day at an average elevation of 10,000 feet and a lot of climbing. It was great for me to get a super long day in on my feet and to know I can do more than what we’ll do in a day at TRR. It was also great for me to get up and hike and run on tired legs – and to see that my legs could turn back on.
• Trail running is no joke! I have loads of room for growth when it comes to trail running strategy and technique. I’m eager to keep pushing and learning!

THE END! 

Thanks for reading this epically long post! It was fun to write.