Hiking from Carver's Gap to Hwy. 19 on the AT

The AT from Carver's Gap to HWY 19 is about 14.5 miles, but with side adventures, it could be roughly 20 miles. The trail crosses the road and continues up about a 400 ft. elevation gain to the first of the balds. This section of the AT is beautiful at near 6000 ft. above sea level and you will get a great view of Roan Mountain. You can take some pictures at Round Bald and up to Jane Bald, giving you a full 360 degrees of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The trail travels 3.7 miles to the Stan Murray shelter and traverses down the ridge switchbacking through the woods. Next you will begin the to climb the rest of Little Hump Mountain, which will is tough. About a 1,000 ft. elevation gain over 2 miles or so. You will then come through the tree line and again there will be a 360 view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and possible high winds.

The climb to the top of Hump mountain can only be described as gnarly. It is straight up with a 400 ft. elevation gain in about .25 miles. From the top of Hump mountain you got a perfect view of Grandfather Mountain, Sugar Mountain, and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

The rest of this section of trail was rolling until turning to left near a fence line. The next section of trail will go back down the ridge through the woods. After winding down the trail and going through switchback that drop almost 1500 feet in elevation the trail comes across a clearing where there was a campsite and a few opportunities to get a view of the area around Hwy. 19.

Its a .3 mile walk down the road back to Mountain Harbor, which is a great place to drop your car off or pay for shuttle service up to Carver's Gap or other areas of the AT.