camping at beauty spot

[TNjed]

i just got back from beauty spot< everyone told me it was cool to camp there and it was until right after dark then about four cars of people came up there, so we split, moved on farther down the trail. Anybody ever camp there or have any problems there?

[ChinMusic]

Problem? Well, any time you camp near a parking lot you gotta expect some company. There is a TON of open land in the area. 4 car loads won't fill it.

[TNjed]

yeah the guy at uncle johnnys said there wouldn't be anybody up there. One guy said he lived in Johnson City and brought his dog up there to get away from the fireworks, this was last night. Makes no sense.

[Johnny Thunder]

maybe he was worried about folks shooting off fireworks in his neighborhood. it happens. skittish animal, maybe?

i've been up on beauty spot maybe 5 or 6 times and every time i've had people join us by way of the road. most are nice. once i saw a pair of guys use the tow hitch on their jeep to move the boulder out of the way so they could drive around on the bald. i made a point of them seeing me take a picture of their tags as the passed us.

i've always found that i'm unnerved by late comers...even if they're hikers. but that tension always goes away when i walk up to folks and introduce myself. so, if i'm not in the mood to have a friendly chat then i normally pick an out-of-the-way place to camp (like, not road accessible wide-open viewpoint on a holiday long weekend).

[Big Dawg]

camped there during a section hike, and sure enough, after dark some po po's drove up, and proceeded to approach us and walk around our tents w/ a flashlight as they made small talk. They didn't find or smell anything, so they mosey'd on. The awesome sunset earlier was worth it though.

[Slo-go'en]

I was camped in the gap below the bald this spring when a T-storm moved in around midnight. It was so bad, I thought I was gonna die. The wind pulled a couple of tent stakes out of the ground so the tent was flopping around me and it seemed like lightning was striking way too close for comfort. Was sure glad I didn't camp up on the bald, it would have been much worse up there!

Since you can never tell when a T-Strom will pop up, camping on top of an exposed bald is generally a very bad idea.

[restless]

I was camped up there one year ago today, and had some cars show up at night to shoot off fireworks. I've camped up there many times and never had any problems; company is to be expected.

[Pedaling Fool]

I never saw the "beauty" in beauty spot.

[10-K]

The best place to camp up that way is by the piped spring just north of Beauty Spot at Deep Gap. Sheltered from the elements, dependable year round water and just off the trail.

South of Beauty Spot about 100 yards up the trail from Indian Grave Gap is another good spot but it's dry.

[ChinMusic]

In May we suspected storms so we didn't camp on the very top. We camped on the "mini bald" nearer the parking lot. A storm could have whacked us there too but it wouldn't have been so bad. As thrus arrived they chose our area as well.