Hiking Hump Mountain

There's a nice descriptive piece in the Miami Herald of 22 July 2007 by Jack Horan titled "North Carolina: Appalachian Trail Balds -- treeless mountaintops -- give hikers unobstructed views of western North Carolina." It describes his day hike from Carvers Gap up over Roan Mountain.

He had a friend along for at least part of the hike.

"Hiking buddy Wayne Johnson had dropped me off at Carvers Gap. Then he drove my car to a mid-point so I would have a 12-mile, rather than 16-mile, one-day trek. After parking, Wayne would hike the half-mile to the Appalachian Trail, turn south and walk toward me."

And does a nice job of describing the balds and explaining their modern-day care and conservation.