Well, it's been very interesting since the departure from Erwin, Tn. It has rained the most the past week than any other stretch. However, I've also been very lucky with weather for most of this hike.
After the first day we popped into the Greasy Creek hostel for lunch. The sun was out and allowed for us to dry out our gear. After a cheese burger and pint of Ben and Jerry's, for yours truly, we set off for Roan mountain. Fueled by 1,000 calories of icecream and pacing up some awesome new switchbacks I cruised my way up Roan. Nokey tends to lead with his fast pace, but not today. Over 2,000 feet were tackled as Roan tops out at around 6,200.
We stayed up top at Roan high knob shelter. As the first to arrive, cold and drenched in sweat, i was greeted by some perky Floridian sectioners. These [insert curse word] set their tents up INSIDE the shelter, leaving very little room. I was a bit outspoken about my anger with this as I told them other hikers were on the way. Nokey was even louder with his disapproval and our annoyance with their stuff spread all over the place. We had to set up upstairs around another tent that practically blocked our entry.
The next morning they were being overly nice and kissass to us, too late. The rest of the day would prove to be much better as weather and everything else improved.
We were met at Carvers Gap by trail angel and 2011 thru-hiker, Mothership, with sandwiches and other goodies. We departed for what would become my favorite stretch of the trail so far. Cloudy skies and fog soon gave way to blue skies and impressive views as we crossed the beginning of the Roan highlands. We visited the well known Overmountain shelter, which was a converted old barn with a gorgeous view.
The following walk over Little hump and Hump mountain was just Amazing (pic below). It reminded me of hiking in Scotland so very much!
We ended up at 19E by Elk park, Nc. We camped by the road that evening along a nice little creek. With stomachs growling we called a steakhouse that posted an advertisement to hikers and offered a ride to and from. Within 5 minutes we were in the back of a pickup enroute. Shortly upon arrival the owner sat down to chat with us and offered me a 40oz porterhouse (pic below) for the 32oz price. I demolished the whole thing with a salad and half a baked potato.
The following morning we departed with a group from the local hostel including dirty girl, hot feet, secrets and shenanigans, spirit, talks a lot, woof and a handful of others. Finally crossed over into Tennessee for good and left NC behind as we crashed early at Mountaineer Falls (Balls hehe) shelter.
The next day was a bit rainy with some snow flurries up on Ponds Flats. The rec area at Watauga lake brought more trail magic as some angels grilled skirt steak and chicken for everyone. The weather cleared up and we pushed on to Vandeventer shelter for another 18.
The following day we pushed 22.7 into Abingdon gap shelter, the last shelter before Damascus, Va. The promise of thunderstorms held true the following morning as it opened up and soaked all of us on the way in with strong gusty winds, lightening and thunder. I did the mileage in about 3 hours.
Damascus has been amazing since arriving! Great small town all centered around biking and hiking. The social dynamics of the trail community. Meeting new people and seeing all sorts of others here has just been a lot of fun. Our first night jason and mary lou came in from Johnson city for karaoke and mass quantities of beer. I do not recall leaving or walking across the street to my bunkroom. The following day was a lazy day with some resupply shopping. I needed a new water bladder as my camelbak developed a hole in the top as well as some gaiters (shed water off of my socks and shoes) for the next deluge.
Yesterday we packed up and got ready for the climb up and out of here. While waking up at the local coffee shop we spun the idea of slack packing (getting shuttled ahead with a small day pack and walking back). Its a nice way to get mileage in without the full pack weight. Our friend Otto had a truck here and dropped us off about 18 miles out. I cleared it all in about 6 hours.
Today I'm stuck waiting around for a 2pm shuttle to where we started yesterday. I'm very ancy as I write this blog. At this point I'm ok with a day off, but not a fan of wasting more time. I've calculated that i must average no less than 18 miles per day from here on out to summit Katahdin on my birthday at the end of July. This shouldn't be an issue as I plan to up my average to 25 per day (i want to break some 30 mile days) through the 4 weeks it should take me to clear this state.
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life as much as I am right now!
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