In the book Latchpins of the Lost Cove, Malone Young believes that Ash Camp is at the base of Little Rock Knob on Ripshin Mountain in the Iron Mountain Gap of Roan Mountain, Tennessee, near the Mitchell County, North Carolina state line. The large rock was a sacred place to Native North American Cherokee Indians, but it was also a place for socializing. Local legend says that it got its name from all of the ash that was left over after meats were broiled on the rock. Early settlers in mountainous regions were convinced that these nature spirits were actually Satan in disguise, and a story about how some unnamed "angry god" used to summon the Cherokee to the spot with violent winds may have been the start of the legend that on some nights people walking the Appalachian Trail hear what sounds like crying coming from the rock. The winds coming through Unaka and Roan Mountains make this place very windy.
