Date: 2003-07-07
From: Sam's Gap, NC

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: light rain

The date for this section hike is early July, 2003.The first day of this hike consisted of me hiking up Big Bald and several other mountains. It was a very early start and I hiked my longest day yet, 18.2 miles. I camped at the No Business Knob shelter, and then got an early start toward Erwin. Hiking down into Erwin was pretty cool. There are vistas where you can see the river and bridge. I hiked down to Uncle Johnny's and they let me hang out and get some water. There are quite a few people who don't like this hostel....the guy was a little weird, but they let me stay and rest, even though I wasn't staying for the night. I later met Miss Janet (from her hostel in Erwin). She's a super nice lady. There is a lot of halabaloo in the hiking world over these two. If you have no idea what I'm talking about....don't worry. If you do, you probably have your own opinion. Uncle Johnny's is easy trail access, but Miss Janet is great. You can make your own opinion. That night I camped at Curley Maple Gap shelter.The next day was wonderful, horrible, wet and beautiful. A typical day on the AT! I hiked up into Beauty Spot, which is a gorgeous bald area. The wind was blowing and the sun was playing peak-a-boo in the clouds. I continued hiking to the summit of Unaka Mt. This is a truly amazing place. The trees are huge fir, with a carpet of needles on the ground. It almost feels like a cathedral. I closed my eyes and smelled, it's like Christmas. I really recommend spending some time on this mountain, I plan on returning soon! Unfortunately, that is where the horrible part of the day began....Thunder had been rumbling quietly in the distance for some time, but now the thunder was more insistent. In fact, it was pretty loud, and close. I decided it was time to descend from this heaven and get to a lower elevation. I just kicked it into gear, and down I went. I looked for blazes, and flew, mainly looking where my feet were going. Suddenly I looked up and the blaze was blue. Oh no! I could've sworn the last one was white. I didn't know how far I had been, so I turned around and started back UP the mountain. I went for about 10 minutes and saw that half the blazes were blue, and half were white. What is going on here? I turned around and started back down...blue blazes again. I searched for a turn that I could've missed, but I didn't see any. To make a long story a LITTLE shorter, I finally hiked back to the last place I knew was correct...the summit and was very careful. I came to the conclusion that some %$*@#$@^%& person had deliberately messed up the blazes either as a prank, or as retribution against hikers. I followed the quasi white blaze to low gap, where the trail continued as only a white blaze trail.Now...all is better....NOT! The heavens had opened up with rain, and the temperature was dropping. I finally reached the shelter, ready for a relaxing evening, getting dry and eating when what do I see? The shelter has around 25 boy scouts around the shelter with their packs all in the shelter sleeping area. I mean there wasn't even room to sit down. I'm shivering, wet (although the rain had finally turned to a drizzle, I'm depressed for how many times I had to reascend Unaka Mt., and now this. I must have looked pretty pitiful, because the rearranged the shelter to where I could at least sit down, they fed me some great food (HOT!) and I got out of my wet gear. Maybe scouts weren't too bad after all. I found out they weren't staying at the shelter, but camping at Low Gap. I gave them the skinny on the campsite and all was well...until they started packing up and leaving. I saw some wet pants near me and gave them to one of the leaders....THEY WERE MINE! So after they had been gone for awhile, I realized my mistake and had to hike the mile back to Low Gap to retrieve my rain pants, and then the mile back to the shelter. Now...how would I rate this day? After all the extra walking it was still a 10. I can't describe well enough in words the beauty of that day's hike. It was absolutely amazing. I also learned a few lessons about gear and tons of people. The next day was a hike up to Roan Mountain. NOBO on the AT, Roan is a killer ascent. It was a never ending climb, but oh so beautiful. Near the summit, the fir trees began again and I loved that Christmas smell. It reminds me of Grandfather Mountain, an hour from my home. I stayed the night at Roan High Knob shelter (an old fire warden's cabin). The next day I hiked the short mile or so to Carver's Gap, and waited for Mary to come pick me up. Another great section.