Day 48

Only one way I can get you to know what packing up camp and heading out this morning was like is by giving you a bit of homework. I want you to take a pair of tennis shoes/running shoes/sneakers… whatever, and soak them in water. Also soak a pair of socks and ring those out. Now put them in a plastic bag and put it in your fridge overnight. In the morning, put those wet socks and shoes on and go for a walk around the neighborhood. It won’t be exactly the same because here, I’m still in the cold walking thru snow, slush, mud and freezing water and I’m sure your feet will warm up quickly walking around the neighborhood but that initial shock of putting on those socks and shoes… yeah, you get it. What an amazing sunrise though. I had my tent situated just perfectly to see it from bed. I made a time lapse of it and it will be in my Relive video on Instagram. It’s going to take a few days for me to get enough service to upload these so I’ll have a lot posting at once. The hike today started in deep snow as I climbed Roan Mountain and had to take a picture of Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest elevation of any shelter on the AT at 6,270 ft. I’m so glad I didn’t go up there and camped at Ash Gap because all the area around the shelter was roped off with signs for no camping and I heard the shelter was shoulder to shoulder people… and it normally sleeps 15 people! Before reaching the shelter, I came across a chimney standing alone next to the trail. What I missed before it was a clearing up on the mountain where apparently there were ruins. Basically, part of the foundation for the Cloudland Hotel from the 19th century. Maybe this solo chimney had something to do with the hotel. At Carver’s Gap, I met Bear Magnet, who was doing amazing trail magic. He made me two grilled cheese sandwiches and I grabbed a Gatorade, which I kept the bottle to replace the water bottle I busted. See, the old saying holds true. The trail provides. So the day may have started with deep snow but it ended in slush and slippery mud. It was slow going with the soaked feet and mud all day that I was able to make it over Round Bald and Jane Bald (there were so many people walking this section of trail with no packs enjoying the view that I was constantly stopped by people asking me the usual questions about my hike) and finally, over Litte Hump Mountain. (I didn’t go to Overmountain Shelter, which is the red barn, but I took pictures of it from the trail as I climbed. It’s been condemned as they are afraid it will soon collapse so you cannot stay in it anymore.) My goal was to go up Bald Mountain but I saw it from a distance and can see I didn’t want to camp up there. I would want a bear canister as there aren’t trees up there to hang food. I’m more concerned about smaller critters than I am bears up there. I got to a campsite and was the second person to set up here. I must be in a bubble because we now have 13 tents set up in this campsite. Just crazy! It will be a big difference from last night where I was the only tent in the area and it was peaceful. I have my earplugs in so hopefully it’s not too noisy. Now if people could learn to use the red light on their headlamps at night instead of the bright white light, I’d be happy.