Aug 28 AT North from 19E

The club normally drives to the NC/TN border for a hike on Roan Mountain which either begins or ends on US19E right where the AT crosses the road. Today, we are hiking the AT north from this spot. Due to the lengthy drive and unfamiliar shuttle, we get a late 11am start. Nicole had enticed a few other members to scout this section for a possible future outing. Her "pre GPS" description said "elevation gain of 500 feet. I don't know why I thought 10.4 miles of AT in the Tennessee mountains would have only 500 feet of elevation gain but I fell for it. During the shuttle, Nicole clarified the elevation gain with the "pre GPS" tag. Of course, back in the 80's, that meant the low point and high point of the section were 500 feet different. 

We started hiking up. Easily we had 2000 feet of elevation gain before lunch. We learned later, the section we hiked had total elevation gain of over 3000 feet. 

The first half of the hike, went in and out of the forest, into open meadows. The trail was not as worn as I thought it might be. The trail made many turns and appeared to have been re-routed in a number of spots.  

Here is our second lunch spot by Jones Falls. These falls were very pleasing to watch. It made for a great side attraction to the AT. The water coming over the cascade would soon enter the Elk River. The photo below, shows us walking along the river which could be glimpsed now and then. It was just to the right of us but hidden by tall vegetation. 

Just prior to this, a nasty yellow jacket stung me on the ear. I had my epipen along and used it within a minute of two. I could feel the medicine going to work about 30 minutes later. My ear pounded the rest of the day but the swelling which had started to affect my neck, was held off by the epinephrine. On the return drive, I started feeling bad about 6 hours after the sting but once at home with a shower, benedryl and something to eat, I was ok. 

We came to another spur which led to Elk River Falls but did not take it. There was also another falls, Mountaineer Falls but it needed water.

The second half of the hike was mainly in forest. At one point, we were in a very dark rhododendron tunnel. 

We finished hiking about 4:30. So it was 5 1/2 hours to do the 10.4 miles plus the short spur to the falls.