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Jennifer Pharr Davis’s 350-Mile Appalachian High Route is a Peak Bagger’s Dream
“Have you heard about that hiking lady you like so much walking through Burnsville?” My parents are not connected to the hiking community at all, so receiving the vague text above from my mom was strange, to say the least. Mom followed the text with a picture of their local newspaper, the Yancey Common Times Journal, featuring the headline, “Appalachian High Route: a hiking trail is born.” My parents had just discovered a new long-distance hiking trail right in our backyard.
Yancey Common Times Journal is Burnsville, NC’s local newspaper. The Appalachian High Route was front-page news in the May 11, 2022 issue. Photo courtesy of Anna “Magic” McKinney.
The “hiking lady” my mom was referencing was none other than Jennifer Pharr Davis. Pharr Davis is a legend among hikers, and I’ve admired her for years. My first glimpse into the world of thru-hiking came from the pages of her Appalachian Trail memoir, Becoming Odyssa. This book chronicles Pharr Davis’s first thru-hike of the AT through a coming-of-age story that took place on the author’s journey north.
Since her debut book, Pharr Davis has become one of the biggest names in the trail community. She set the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for the AT in 2011 when she finished the then-2,185-mile trail in 46 days. She also runs a successful guide service/outfitter in Asheville, NC named Blue Ridge Hiking Company.
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Somehow, between parenting, running a business, traveling to speaking events, and writing, Pharr Davis found the time to piece together a new hiking route in North Carolina and Tennessee. With her friend and fellow trail enthusiast Jake Blood, the two dreamed up the ~350-mile Appalachian High Route.
Peak Bagger’s Dream
I’ve heard about peak baggers scaling 14ers out west and 4,000-footers in New England, but I never dreamed they could do it in the southeast. The Appalachian mountain chain is among the oldest in the world, and over time these mountains have been whittled away to their current, relatively modest height. Yet 53 of the 54 tallest peaks in the east are in the southern Appalachians. Rightly named the Southern Sixers, they range in height from 6,684’ to 6,003’.
If you look at a map of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, it’s obvious how many incredible trails exist in this area. The Appalachian Trail follows the state line for several hundred miles, and the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) dances along the border as well. The shorter and lesser-known Black Mountain Crest Trail traverses the Black Mountain range, which boasts “17 named peaks over 6,000-feet, including the highest peak in the Appalachians, Mount Mitchell at 6,684-feet,” according to Blood.
It was while examining these trail maps that Pharr Davis and Blood first came up with the idea of the Burnsville Connector and later the Appalachian High Route.
The official route of the newly created Appalachian High Route. Photo: Jennifer Pharr Davis.
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This trail seems to have it all, from history to elevation. Blood said that “while maintaining and hiking the AT, I learned that when Benton MacKaye originally envisioned the Appalachian Trail, he proposed it should run from the highest peak in the Appalachians, Mount Mitchell, to the highest peak in the Northeast, Mount Washington… I’ve been looking for a way to connect Mount Mitchell with the AT, but was thwarted by an overwhelming amount of privately owned land. I never considered using roads, until Jennifer and I started talking!”
Trail Profile
This trail officially begins and ends in the town of Burnsville, NC. According to Pharr Davis, “Burnsville is making a big to-do about the trail with patches, certificates, and (potentially) a downtown mural. Plus there’s a brewery (Homeplace Brewing) right by the town square/finish that’s run by a thru hiker. So it’s a pretty great post-trail celebration spot.”
With deep roots in Burnsville, I can confirm that this town is as quaint and hiker friendly as it sounds. There is a long history of trail supporters in this area, including the Carolina Mountain Club and NC High Peak Association.
High point sign atop Mount Mitchell in NC. “Highest peak east of the Mississippi.” Photo courtesy of Anna “Magic” McKinney.
Rough breakdown of the route from the downtown Burnsville, NC:
Burnsville Connector pt. 1: ~Five-mile road walk from the downtown square to the Bolens Creek Trailhead of the Black Mountain Crest Trail
Black Mountain Crest Trail: ~12 miles from the Bolens Creek Trailhead to Mount Mitchell
Mountains to Sea Trail: ~155 miles on the MST heading west from Mount Mitchell to Clingmans Dome
Appalachian Trail: ~135 miles northbound on the AT from Clingmans Dome (NoBo mile 200) to Spivey Gap (NoBo mile 333)
Burnsville Connector pt. 2: ~21 miles. Uses back roads, the Devil’s Creek Trail, Lost Cove Trail, and Forest Service roads to reconnect to Burnsville’s Main Street.
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Altogether, the Burnsville Connector runs approximately 26 miles comprising “3.7 miles of trail, 3.7 miles of gravel FS road, and 18 miles of paved secondary roads and/or sidewalks,” according to Pharr Davis.
The official route for the newly created Burnsville Connector. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Pharr Davis.
New Trail Who Dis?
So what do 350 miles of “new” trail look like? The Appalachian High Route is unique because a majority of the route follows preexisting trails. Pharr Davis says the new route is “a highlight reel of some of my favorite stretches of the AT and MST. It’s similar in distance to the Pinhoti and Benton MacKaye, but it’s a higher elevation trail with peak bagging access and great trail towns. Loops also tend to be easier logistically.”
Pharr Davis and her friend Haley were the first official finishers of the Appalachian High Route. Pharr Davis said that “to create/complete the loop, I hiked the Burnsville connector in 3 days – taking my time and doing route recon. I had already completed the other miles.”
According to Pharr Davis, some of the highlights include “the Smokies, Black Balsam, Max Patch, the Crest Trail and hiking through Burnsville was a very cool change of pace with lots of history.”
Pharr Davis proudly holding a banner proclaiming “Introducing the… Appalachian High Route.” Photo courtesy of Jennifer Pharr Davis.
Is A Thru-Hike of the Appalachian High Route Possible?
Pharr Davis was kind enough to answer my questions about the Appalachian High Route. Here are her answers to my brief questions about logistics.
Is a thru-hike possible? “It’s a great loop for a thru, but also a wonderful trail to section and/or use for peak bagging adventures. We’d love to section hike it and touch the high points with our kids over the next few years.”
What would the mileage per day look like? “At 15 miles a day you’re looking at 3.5 weeks. If you want to touch all the high points near/close to the trail then it will add more time.”
Are there opportunities for resupply? “There are four great resupply options right on the route: Qualla Boundary of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Hot Springs, Burnsville, and Asheville.”
What do camping options look like? “Camping is toughest along the MST section, but if you can plan your overnight spots for portions of the route that leave Blue Ridge Parkway and cross into Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests – plus maybe a few private campgrounds in that section, it’s definitely doable.”
High Route Means High Peaks
Hikers on the Appalachian High Route could summit all 53 of the Southern Sixers with a little bushwhacking and creativity. In doing so, they would bag all but one of the east coast’s 6,000’+ peaks—New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. “Cold Mountain and LeConte are both a half-day side trip off the route. And while most other peaks are on or in close proximity to the trail, there are bushwhacks to reach some of those summits that will also add time,” says Pharr Davis.
Dramatic sunset views from Celo Knob along the Black Mountain Crest Trail. Photo courtesy of Anna “Magic” McKinney.
The Future of the Appalachian High Route
Pharr Davis, Blood, and other trail contributors have big plans for the Appalachian High Route. Pharr Davis hopes “it will offer a world-class long-distance trail to folks who don’t have 4-6 months to hike – and highlight the high peaks and biodiversity in the southeast. I hope a lot of locals use it but would be jazzed to see people coming from all over to hike it.”
The team is working diligently to create hiking maps along with other resources as the trail grows in popularity. For now, a basic outline of the trail can be found on Pharr Davis’s website. There are also social media accounts for the trail (Instagram and Facebook), and a website is in the works. If you find yourself in the Burnsville area this summer, there will be an information meeting for the Appalachian High Route at 6:30 p.m. on August 4, 2022, at the Yancey County Public Library in Burnsville, NC.
Clear skies over the Black Mountain Range with my favorite hiking buddy, Banjo. Photo courtesy of Anna “Magic” McKinney.
Featured image: Left- Jennifer Pharr Davis holds up a banner advertising the Appalachian High Route. Courtesy of Jennifer Pharr Davis. Right- Sunset from Celo Knob on the Black Mountain Crest Trail. Courtesy of Anna “Magic” McKinney.
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Comments 7
This trail seems great! Can’t wait to check it out
I don’t want to poo-poo Jennifer Pharr Davis or the writer Anna McKinney (she did cite my BMCT guide so I am grateful for that), but this new “trail” is simply naming a loop route that comprises >85% of its miles using the Appalachian Trail, Mountains-to-Sea Trail, and Black Mountain Crest Trail. There are multiple long loop backpacking options in NC stringing together different pieces of national forest, state forest, game land, and state park trail system using road connections, primarily in the southwest part of the state. None of these have unique trail names because they use existing trails. So the publicity of this newly named trail is a little confounding to me, as no new trail was built for this route and the AT, MST, and BMCT are extremely popular quantities.
Logistically this is more of a challenge than Davis lets on as well. Unless you start your loop in Cherokee or I-40 and enter the national park first, you will need to reserve backcountry campsites for multiple nights in the Smokies at some point during the hike. Or you will need to accurately estimate how long it will take you to reach GSMNP and book campsites before you start the trip. Given this route uses the AT, it may be difficult to get shelter reservations a few days or weeks before entering the park during the warmer months. Icewater Spring, Tricorner, and Cosby are on this route and are some of the toughest shelters to book last minute. Additionally, the Smokies does not allow dogs. If you are hiking this loop with a dog you’ll have to figure something out for those few days you hike through the park. The MST also remains difficult for backpackers for resupply, camping, and water. People of course camp illegally on NPS land when thru hiking the MST, but for campsites and water you often will need to drop off on a national forest trail or gravel road. This is one of the big drawbacks of the MST closely following the Blue Ridge Parkway through most of the mountains. There is also a section of the MST from Graveyard Fields to NC 215 that requires bear canisters for campers. Sometimes bear canisters are temporarily required in the Black Mountains when there are aggressive bears at Deep Gap or Commissary Hill, and backpackers won’t know this unless they check the Pisgah National Forest website. I strongly advocate a bear canister for this entire route, sans the Smokies which provides bear cables.
The AT was/is also formed from pre-existing trails and trails segments as does the BMT, MST, PT, etc. Most long distance trails are cobbled together from pre-existing trails and routes. That doesn’t take away from those pre-existing trails, named or otherwise. For example, the Long Tr pre dates the AT. Both stand on their own where they are co-joined. As another example, Cam ‘Swami’ Honan created his Southeastern Serpentine. I just yesterday completed a Foothills Tr via a portion of the Chattooga River Tr to the Bartram to Cheoah Bald and looped the AT back to Wallace Branch.
Where you, Zack, and JPD, as well as others(I include myself) share a common goal is understanding there are basically an infinite amt of routes worthy of exploration beyond being strictly confined to named XYZ Trails such as the over loved AT. JPD brings us another worthy trail/route possibility. When creative folks like ourselves get behind a newly named trail or route it opens up the doors of possibilities that some others may not undertake to plan such a route themselves. I presume Earl Shaffer made many compromises having to adapt and be resilient to complete the first ever recognized AT thru hike.