Appalachian Trail - Carvers Gap to Erwin - Day 3 4K

Seventh backpacking trip of 2024... August 22-25, 2024
included ... me, mom & Sally
Day 3... 9.94 miles / 1,207 elevation gain
(Unaka Mountain to Curley Maple Gap Shelter)

Waking up to the sound of bees buzzing throughout the forest.. we broke camp and made our way down the mountain. About 3 miles into our hike - we saw a blue blaze for a water trail - but we'd had enough from the previous day's carry that we didn't have to use that. So, we continued along the trail as we hiked through an old field that when you look back had a nice view of Unaka! We re-entered the woods for a short time before once again emerging back into the open and summiting Beauty Spot. The road up there had reopened the week prior to our trip ... so we weren't alone but it wasn't super busy - so we enjoyed the views, lounged in the grass, and rested! After awhile, we put our packs back on and continued making our way down the mountain for 3 miles to Indian Grave Gap. Allegedly, there's a water source down the road - but there was no shoulder and lots of traffic - so we decided to skip getting water here and continued towards finding a campsite (Farout only listed Curley Maple shelter as camp option from Beauty Spot to where'd we'd parked). Deep down, I was like surely there's some other campsite in this section! Well, there were a couple just up from Indian Grave Gap but we wanted to be a little closer to the end than that. We passed one at 6 miles from Unaka ... but it had quite a bit of garbage and seemed to be at the end of a road which we weren't necessarily comfortable with (and there was no water). So, we continued on ... weaving in and out of valleys which involved sun (which was hot) and shade (which was blessed relief)!

At this point - I was starting to worry that any water source might be dry. Thankfully, at 9.4 miles we crossed a stream with reasonable flow where we topped off our bottles and grabbed one extra liter of water. After all, there was a water source at the shelter. We passed another campsite at Curley Maple Gap -where there was an old foundation (anyone know what used to stand here?) and again this was more tent friendly. So, we continued to the shelter... where much to our dismay - not hammock
friendly (a few leaning trees, trees were too far apart, or trees were bigger than my straps could wrap around). But we were both just dog tired and we made do with mom & Sally sleeping in the shelter (her first time) and me suspended in the hammock between the two front posts of the shelter. It suited our needs and thankfully we had it to ourselves. We gathered firewood, had dinner by the fire, and roasted marshmallows before settling into bed (where I saw a mouse running out of the shelter - which I kept to myself because I didn't want my mom to be freaked out all night - and I did offer to let her have the hammock). Falling asleep to the sound of owls, looking up at the night sky, feeling the tiredness setting in, and the sadness that already our trip was coming to an end.

Things to note...again campsites are more tent friendly and the area around Beauty Spot is near the road - so don't expect to have the area to yourself. Not much water at all in this section and the trail coming down from Beauty Spot was pretty exposed and rocky (just loose rock/larger gravel). There wasn't a shoulder on the road at Indian Grave Gap - so do use caution if you decide to get water down the road. There were several streams shown on Gaia that crossed the trail and in wet conditions there probably are but obviously these are seasonal because of all the ones on the map only one had water. At the shelter - there's room for tents and the water source while it wasn't terrible is easier to get with a scoop or wide mouth bag. The shelter itself was really nice double decker one with a picnic table and benches around the fire pit (and the inside of the shelter was a pale yellow color which helped it feel a bit brighter). Also, when we got there there were hot ashes in the firepit ... please make sure you put out your fires.