My slumber was less than peaceful. I am camped about 25 feet from a cabin, and they were up so early this morning. Even with my earplugs, I could hear them banging and clanging starting at 4 am. I drifted off to sleep, only to be woken by the loudest truck in Tennessee belching and squealing up the road. I drift off again, to be woken by a train. By 6 am I say, "to hell with it," and give up sleeping. I am ready for the peace of the woods. GG is also up and also reported a fitful sleep. We have two hours until our pickup. We pack and still have over an hour, so I go to the coffee cabin and make some extra strong coffee with lots of creamer and sugar. I sit by the fire and chat with an older hiker named Santa for a spell.
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| My Ridgerunner in the hammock shed |
We mosey over to the porch and I eat one of the extra freeze-dried dinners from my resupply. Cuban black beans and rice for breakfast! Not too tasty, but perfectly hearty with lots of fiber that will keep me full for a while. The Diet Coke was tasty, as well!
There is a decent number of thru hikers here, and they gather on the porch for some pictures. One of them is carrying the AT Class of '23 sign he carried during the hiker parade last week in Damascus, VA during Trail Days. He plans on carrying it until it falls apart, which won't take too long judging by the condition of the sign. We hug Kodiak goodbye but hope we will meet up in a couple days on Roan Mountain.
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| Appalachian Trail Class of 2023 at Uncle Johnny's Hostel |
Steve pulls up and GG and I say goodbye to Uncle Johnny's and the friends we have made. We head to Iron Mountain Gap once again. Kodiak is going to slackpack back to Erwin from Indian Grave Gap (what we did yesterday) and if her leg holds up, she will hopefully catch up on the other side of Roan Mountain. We arrive at a few minutes to 9 and jump immediately on the trail.
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| Unloading at Iron Mountain Gap, TN |
We are currently five miles ahead of schedule, so we have a little leeway built into this section. There is some heavy rain heading our way in a couple days, and the exposed mountain ridges we will be hiking over the next few days may be precarious.
We agree to take it easy today. We are going to meet at Clyde Smith Shelter six miles north to eat and to sit down and figure out where we will stop tonight. Heck, I may even make it very leisurely and pull out my sleeping pad to have a nap today! I haven't taken an afternoon nap on this trip and it's on my "to do" list.
Jasper gets upset when GG and I try to take a blue-blazed side trail to get water. He starts running in circles around us, telling us to go back!
I drink my usual beet and microgreen shake, flavored with EmergenC, and try to eat the heaviest things in my pack first. We look at the water for the next section of trail. There are several sources, but the comments in the app say some are unreliable.
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| Jasper and GG at the Clyde Smith Shelter |
This is the last shelter before Roan High Knob, the highest shelter on the entire Appalachian Trail, which is another 3,000 feet of climb. We agree it's way too early to stay here, but Roan is farther than we want to do today. We have three days of food before we need to be at 19E for our next resupply.
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| Is there something in the tree? |
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| Dryad's Saddle Mushrooms |
For the last week, each day that I have hiked the trail is my new favorite. The trail and scenery just keep getting better and better and today is no different. The terrain is easy to hike, with the trail undulating gently up and down, with beautiful views the reward for elevation gain. Very unlike the Pointless Up and Downs (PUDs) of Northern Virginia, where you hike up just to descend again with no view in sight.
Our next stop is Hughes Gap, where there is water next to a paved road. This is one place we don't want to stop for the night. Even before Kodiak's encounter, camping next to a road is a no go. Especially on a Friday night when the weather is clear. All we need is to encounter some joyriding, partying kids who thinks it's fun to terrorize hikers.
We arrive at Hughes Gap and discuss filling up our water and ascending just far enough out of the gap to avoid any encounters. Once we start up this hill, our camping and water resources are quite scarce. There is an established campsite with a nearby water source that is three miles away and 1,400 feet gain. According to Far Out App, the comments state the water here is difficult to obtain, requiring a long downhill from the ridge. We "camel" up a bit, drinking a liter now to be as hydrated as possible, then carry some extra water so we won't have to get more. My pack is now five pounds heavier as I hoist it onto my back.
While our legs are stronger, we haven't had a day off in 9 days, and I didn't get my afternoon nap! Guess I will just have to dig in and find some energy. At least we will have that much less climb tomorrow.
Thankfully the remainder of the day is some of the best hiking I have experienced so far. The sun is out, and the wind is blowing. I can't decide if I am hot or cold, so I hike with my long-sleeved shirt. The trees towering overhead are swaying in the stiff wind, and ferns and knee-high grass tickle my legs, so I pull my gaiters up to my knees. We are staying on the ridge the entire hike up the base of Roan Mountain.
After two hours, we reach a rocky and steep slope. I push up and over, and I am greeted by the most magical woodland glade. The ridge here flattens out and is wide - probably 400 feet. The scene is right out of a fairy movie. The trees provide ample shade overhead, and are widely spaced, providing a prolific number of flat camping spots. The understory is open, covered in ferns and grasses, with not a cane in sight. There are several well-established campsites here, and already five or six tents, so we look for a suitable place to set up our camp. I see something running through the grass toward GG and hear her cries of delight. It's Jasper! We are home for the night!
We set up for the night. This area is so huge that the camps are spread out and we have a lot of privacy. I hang my hammock on the western side of the ridge and leave the tarp off while I set up so I can appreciate the limited view. The sun is starting to set, but the clouds are so thick I can't see anything.
GG tries for a bear hang, but is unsuccessful, so we will have to take our chances tonight. We mitigate the potential for an animal encounter by hanging our food bags far away from camp in the branches of a tree. At least our food bags are made of DCF, a waterproof, and supposedly odor proof material.
We gather around the cold fire pit for dinner. A couple is camping nearby and joins us. Their names are Omen and Maybe, and they are a lot of fun to talk to. I drank way more water on the hike from Hughes Gap than I intended. I should probably get more but I am absolutely zonked right now; maybe I will have enough to make it up to Roan tomorrow. I pour out my water carefully into my pot, measuring out just enough to rehydrate my dinner. I turn my head for a moment when Jasper bounds over and starts drinking out of my pot! We all start laughing and I start to push him away, but he is thirsty. I guess I am definitely getting more water in the morning! I use the rest of my water to cook my dinner, careful to keep it away from Jasper this time.
We say goodnight. I walk to the other side of the ridge where I see one bar on my cellphone and call home. I am in my hammock by 7:30 pm. Before I climb in, I drop the pitch on my new tarp and close the doors, so I am protected from the wind, which is picking up. This tarp is palatial by camping standards. Some rough weather is supposed to move in tonight. I read for a little while tucked into my comfy down top quilt.
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| The view from my hammock |
Today's Stats: 12.4 Miles, 3655' gain
Trail Stats: 377 Miles, 90 THOUSAND FEET of climbing!!
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