From the Wayside, the trail descends 1.8 miles to Brown Mountain Creek Shelter. The next four miles include a beautiful walk along Brown Mountain Creek and Pedlar Lake. The remains of cabins, stone fences and fields are evident along the creek. From 1868 to 1918, the land was owned by a former slave who rented the cabins to other former slaves who sharecropped the land. From the Pedlar Lake dam, the AT begins a two mile climb (1,240 ft) of Rice Mountain and leads 2.2 miles to the junction with the Blue Ridge Parkway at Punchbowl Mountain crossing.