March 14th - Shannon and I both left work at about 3:00 p.m. and drove up Rock Creek Road from Erwin (TN 395) to Indian Grave Gap.  We had original intentions of then driving up Unaka Mountain Road to Beauty Spot, and hiking from Beauty Spot (elevation 4400) to the Summit of Unaka Mountain (elevation 5180) and back.  But when we arrived at Unaka Mountain Road it was blocked off (I guessed due to the dry conditions and the forest fire on Buffalo Mtn.), so we parked at Indian Grave Gap and set out from there.  It was about 3:30 when we got started, and with only 4 hours of daylight left we didn't think we'd have time to get to the Unaka Summit and back, which is 10.8 miles (round trip) from Indian Grave Gap (elevation 3400)... much further (and more elevation gain) than our original plan of 6.2 miles from Beauty Spot.  Regardless, we set out north on the AT to see how far we could get.

(Click all images for larger photos)

At Beauty Spot, Looking Back Down the Trail Towards the West

A Forest Fire on Nearby Buffalo Mountain... Later Determined as Possible Arson 

Looking South From Beauty Spot Into the Mountains of North Carolina

We climbed our first 1000 feet in two miles and arrived at Beauty Spot at about 4:45, and took these photos.  The sun coming down through the clouds was beautiful.  At this point we discussed turning around and heading back, but with our original summit in the distance, we discussed the fact that we could always just hike the road out if it got dark on us...  so we continued.    

From Beauty Spot it was gradually downhill for a couple of miles before arriving at Deep Gap/Beauty Spot Gap (elevation 4100).  From there the ascent on Unaka was about 1100 feet elevation gain in the last 1.5 mile.  This was of course the most strenuous part of our hike, and after quite a few switchbacks on rocky terrain, we finally summitted Unaka at around 6:30.  The summit is very interesting as it's covered in a magnificent, somewhat eerie, and very dense red spruce forest.  Even with an hour of daylight left, it was almost completely dark inside this forest.   

More Wonderful Views

Getting a Little Closer to Our Summit

Summit of Unaka Mountain... Dense Evergreen Forest

After our summit, Shannon and I got out the map to see how far we were from the road, but realized it was a half mile or so from where we were, so we decided to follow the trail back down as far as we could before dark and then get on the road later.  Both of us were feeling pretty good so we jogged down the majority of the mountain until we reached Deep Gap.  We then hiked backed to Beauty Spot, and by that time it was getting pretty dark so we hit the road for the final two miles out.  We arrived at the car at about 8:30, turning this day hike into a 5 hour, 10.8 mile hike that had well over 2000 total feet of elevation gain.      

Topo Map of Unaka Mountain Summit

HOME