Ascent of Roan Mountain State Park High Point on 2013-01-03| Other People: | Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Thursday, January 3, 2013 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Roan Mountain State Park High Point | | Location: | USA-Tennessee | | Elevation: | 3880 ft / 1182 m |
Ascent Trip ReportAfter using the crampons and hiking the AT to bag the 6000 foot peaks on the TN-NC line (Roan High Knob, Roan High Bluff, etc) we drove back to Beech Mountain to pick up the kids left on the ski slope. We stopped in the Roan Mountain State Park to climb a small mountain without snow. I still had energy left from the 7 mile snow hike earlier, so Karen parked the car and took a nap in the parking lot and gave me less than an hour to rush up the side of the mountain and bushwhack the nearest highpoint I could find.
I inadvertently selected a knob in the distance that turned out to be the state park high point. I had microspikes on my mountianeering boots which turned out to be helpful in the slick clay on the side of the ravine. I crossed the nearby creek and started on western bearing contouring upward on a nice winter bushwhack. I somehow stumbled on to a small maintained trail marked with blue blazes. That took me down to the Hodge Hollow creek and followed the blue blazes until I feared it was going to far west.
I crossed the creek and headed up another large ravine that ran perpendicular from the hollow and up between the peak and it its subpeaks. The ravine and slopes were very steep and wet and if not for the microspikes I would have slipped many times. At this time of year, the foliage was bear and I could see a very long way up the slopes. I obtained the ridge on the west side of the ravine and continued upward. The ridge was also quite steep.
I carefully jogged down the same way to find my wife at the car. Made it up and back in under an hour as requested! |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1060 ft / 323 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 2 mi / 3.2 km | | Route: | Hodge Hollow Bushwhack | | Trailhead: | Parking Lot at State Park Shelter creek bottom 2820 ft / 859 m | | Grade/Class: | 2 | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Bushwhack | | Weather: | Cool, Calm, Overcast
29F | | Ascent Statistics | | Time: | 35 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Time: | 18 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: Roan Mountain
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 2160 ft / 658 m Total Trip Loss: 2080 ft / 634 m |
This page has been served 252 times since 2005-01-15.
|
