Humps

[The Solemates]

Hiked the humps this week. It's been 6 or 7 yrs since I did them last. Did they reroute them since then? I don't remember skirting around and into the saddle. They used to go right over the top of everything. Were they rerouted and why?

We had a blast. Blazed our own trail post holing with temps around 12 deg and wind gusts up to 50.

[MuddyWaters]

Are you referring to the way you stand on top of Little Hump, looking straight down at the base of Hump just a couple hundred yards away thru the grass, then double back the way you came all the way back down to the base of little hump , and wrap around the bottom to arrive finally at the bottom of Hump?

Makes you say W*F?

[joshuasdad]

I ran into Paul With Bunyons near 19E on Tuesday (Christmas) and he warned me about the reroutes. Was not postholing then, but the clouds were definitely closing in. Near Carvers Gap at the end of the day, visibility was zero.

I assume you hiked this on Wednesday or Thursday (I was postholing Roan on Friday, after the winds died down). Did you happen to find my blue camp towel, lost near Dolly Flats?

[Seatbelt]

Hiked the humps this week. It's been 6 or 7 yrs since I did them last. Did they reroute them since then? I don't remember skirting around and into the saddle. They used to go right over the top of everything. Were they rerouted and why?

I think I read somewhere that this was done to allow the deep ruts in the trail going north down from Little Hump time to heal/recover. It also takes one past a nice spring right on the rerouted trail shortly before you exit the woods.

[The Cleaner]

Ive got a 1980 ATC guidebook that shows the mileage from Carver's Gap>19E as 10.6 miles.....:eek:

[dale1627]

I hiked from Carvers Gap to 19E at the end of August. I was warned of the reroute by crews working on the trail at Carvers Gap. The gentleman said that it was due to the ruts.

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[The Solemates]

Are you referring to the way you stand on top of Little Hump, looking straight down at the base of Hump just a couple hundred yards away thru the grass, then double back the way you came all the way back down to the base of little hump , and wrap around the bottom to arrive finally at the bottom of Hump?

Makes you say W*F?

yep, exactly


I ran into Paul With Bunyons near 19E on Tuesday (Christmas) and he warned me about the reroutes. Was not postholing then, but the clouds were definitely closing in. Near Carvers Gap at the end of the day, visibility was zero.

I assume you hiked this on Wednesday or Thursday (I was postholing Roan on Friday, after the winds died down). Did you happen to find my blue camp towel, lost near Dolly Flats?

yep we were on the trail then. visibility early thurs morning was about 20 yards. couldnt hear my partner talking if he was more than a few feet away. the wind was whipping somethin fierce. thurs afternoon and friday were perfect. didnt see a towel.


I hiked from Carvers Gap to 19E at the end of August. I was warned of the reroute by crews working on the trail at Carvers Gap. The gentleman said that it was due to the ruts.

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thats what we figured

[Tennessee Viking]

Hiked the humps this week. It's been 6 or 7 yrs since I did them last. Did they reroute them since then? I don't remember skirting around and into the saddle. They used to go right over the top of everything. Were they rerouted and why?

We had a blast. Blazed our own trail post holing with temps around 12 deg and wind gusts up to 50.I worked on it myself. TEHCC & Konnarock crews routed the trail around Little Hump 3-4 years ago. The straight-and-over approach was causing significant erosion of the trail going down toward Bradley Gap. It was eventually approved to have the the trail go more of a curving sidehill approach to Bradley Gap.


Are you referring to the way you stand on top of Little Hump, looking straight down at the base of Hump just a couple hundred yards away thru the grass, then double back the way you came all the way back down to the base of little hump , and wrap around the bottom to arrive finally at the bottom of Hump?

Makes you say W*F?
If the re-route wasn't built, the trail would look like the old rutted out trail south of Roan High Knob.

[The Solemates]

I worked on it myself. TEHCC & Konnarock crews routed the trail around Little Hump 3-4 years ago. The straight-and-over approach was causing significant erosion of the trail going down toward Bradley Gap. It was eventually approved to have the the trail go more of a curving sidehill approach to Bradley Gap.

thanks for all you do for the trail!

how long do you estimate the bald will take to recover?

[ChinMusic]

If the re-route wasn't built, the trail would look like the old rutted out trail south of Roan High Knob.

Has ALL the trail leading up to Roan been rerouted? I think they had just finished the bottom half when I went through the last time. The top part was still steep and heavily rooted. It was so rooted that I feared my dog was gonna break a leg in the twisted roots. I remember looking at the terrain and thinking they had no where else to put the trail up there.

[joshuasdad]

Has ALL the trail leading up to Roan been rerouted? I think they had just finished the bottom half when I went through the last time. The top part was still steep and heavily rooted. It was so rooted that I feared my dog was gonna break a leg in the twisted roots. I remember looking at the terrain and thinking they had no where else to put the trail up there.

It was super smooth when I hiked it Friday. Of course the up to six inches of powder snow helped... ;)

[ChinMusic]

It was super smooth when I hiked it Friday. Of course the up to six inches of powder snow helped... ;)

6" of snow wasn't gonna come close to covering the roots I remember. They must have rerouted the whole thing then. Man, that has to be a lot of work.

[Wise Old Owl]

And you folks say you don't need a map.... whoooo!:)

[joshuasdad]

First descent off of Roan High Knob SOBO was pretty steep, and I saw a few roots poking through, but these posed no problem as I was powder hiking. Just jump over the roots into the next powder stash, rinse, repeat. It was a shame to see such beautiful untracked powder without skis on, but fun all the same. The bottom was comically tame compared to the top section, with a few very long and seemingly flat switchbacks. My guess is that some work has been done on the top section, but the major work was on the bottom section.

[Tennessee Viking]

thanks for all you do for the trail!

how long do you estimate the bald will take to recover?
I don't think there was any discussion of moving it back. Its going to stay sidehill from what I know.

Has ALL the trail leading up to Roan been rerouted? I think they had just finished the bottom half when I went through the last time. The top part was still steep and heavily rooted. It was so rooted that I feared my dog was gonna break a leg in the twisted roots. I remember looking at the terrain and thinking they had no where else to put the trail up there.All of the Grassy Ridge to Little Hump relos were completed a couple years ago. The last I talked to Mountain Squid and Bob Peoples, TEHCC and Konnarock crews have worked on several relocations (from Hughes Gap to Cloudland). Some of the top and bottom ones were opened within the last couple of years (the Rock Scramble was eliminated). The ones around Hughes Gap will be opened within the next year or two depending when the tread soil stabilizes. It is proposed, that when finished, just over 2 miles will be added utilizing switchbacks to decrease the grade.

[ChinMusic]

First descent off of Roan High Knob SOBO was pretty steep, and I saw a few roots poking through, but these posed no problem as I was powder hiking. Just jump over the roots into the next powder stash, rinse, repeat. It was a shame to see such beautiful untracked powder without skis on, but fun all the same. The bottom was comically tame compared to the top section, with a few very long and seemingly flat switchbacks. My guess is that some work has been done on the top section, but the major work was on the bottom section.

I bet the top part is the same then. That was one of the only sections of trail I feared for my dog. Those tangled roots just looked like doggy leg-breakers to me.

[Rasty]

And you folks say you don't need a map.... whoooo!:)

That section is very well marked. I had a map but never took it out of my pack. As a coincidence one of my coworkers called me from the Jane Bald today. I think he wanted to rub it in that he was on the Balds. He said it was pretty icy today.

[The Solemates]

I don't think there was any discussion of moving it back. Its going to stay sidehill from what I know.

I was wandering how long it took to recover though, because now there are two ruts in the Earth - the old and new trails. I could see no difference between the two - both were scars. I was just interested in the decision making of why it was relocated, how long it would take to heal, etc. Seems like to have just one bad scar is better than two obvious scars....but maybe that's why i dont make the decisions.

[The Solemates]

posted some photos on my blog below if anyone is interested

[The Solemates]

It was super smooth when I hiked it Friday. Of course the up to six inches of powder snow helped... ;)

were you the nut hiking in shorts and a pillow? :)

[ChinMusic]

I was wandering how long it took to recover though, because now there are two ruts in the Earth - the old and new trails. I could see no difference between the two - both were scars. I was just interested in the decision making of why it was relocated, how long it would take to heal, etc. Seems like to have just one bad scar is better than two obvious scars....but maybe that's why i dont make the decisions.

Out west, Yosemite for example, it is common practice to move the ruts a few feet to the side every so often. You can see the healing process on the previous ruts. It must take several years but the ruts do seem to heal.

[Almost There]

They had already rerouted the Humps back in 2007. Remember it being my favorite hiking day that summer, but looking back you could see the original ruts after skirting around on the side of the mountain.

[joshuasdad]

Not me, but 35 and above, I often hike in shorts. That Friday was pretty cold on Roan. Pillow!?