It is the first weekend in February and that means the last month of winter. While mild would be an understatement for this winter and contradicting outcomes on Groundhog Day (Punxsutawney Phil predicts more winter and Beauregard Lee an early spring) So, back in January when I had the chance to hike in the snow I jumped at the chance and I headed up to my favorite places for white stuff..the Roans.
Heading into a weekend in mid-January I waited to find out about snow. On Friday night and Saturday, we only had a dusting in Hawkins County, but from what I can gather above 4,000 feet, it was six inches or more (Mt. LeConte in the Smokies got 16 inches). Since Newfound Gap Road was closed and I had heard the road to Cavers Gap was clear, at least on the North Carolina side, I decided to head up Sunday morning. It was a chilly 19° when I started out and was about that when I reached Carvers Gap, except it was really windy.
Because of that and knowing how snow works on the Roans, I declined a trip to the Balds and headed up the road to the Rhododendron Gardens. Because I was trying to stay out of ski tracks, I put on the snowshoes and used the edges where deeper snow is. It was between nine inches and more than a foot with drifts in spots nearly 20 inches.
I visited the old hotel site (where I ran the drone), the Rhododendron Gardens, and then on to the Appalachian Trail (AT). I eventually made it to the Roan High Knob Shelter, and I made right the crash of the drone from June.
Getting back to Carvers Gap, I was surprised to find it packed like it was Rhododendron season. Anyway, it was a great day of snow and ice on the Roans in the wintertime.
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