Date: 2006-04-03
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 31 (Still writing on Tuesday night - see beginning of yesterday's journal.) Ok, so last night's weather. After we finished dinner (it was already dark), as I was walking over to the shelter for bed I could see lightning in several places off in the distance. Looked like two storms were headed our way. So about an hour after we got in bed I heard what sounded like a train coming at us. We could hear the wind coming from probably miles away. Finally it hit the shelter and man was it blowing hard. Leaves and fire (from the one the boys had built earlier in the day) flew across the front of the shelter at an amazingly fast pace. It was like nothing I've ever seen in my whole life. I thought we were either going to burn the place down with the fire or get struck by lightning. Next came the rain and then the thunder and insane lightning (which thankfully stayed just north of us). Crazy! Fell asleep when that one calmed down, but it was followed by two others just like it. Woke up to rain in the morning and hung out in the shelter for awhile to see if it would die down. Finally it did, and we got up and out by 9:30. Had a huge day planned. STEEP was the name of the game today. Had several steep ups and downs throughout the morning. Made it to the first shelter around lunchtime so stopped and ate before heading on to the toughest part of the day: Roan Mountain. Right after the shelter we continued to climb up Little Rock Knob which had a fantastic view from the top. Kept moving (oh, and by now, the clouds had burned off and it was a beautiful day) and began the descent to the bottom of Roan. After staring at this thing in the distance for two days, we were finally in it's shadow. Bring it on. There are a couple things you should know about Roan. First, it's summit is at 6285'. When we left the shelter we were at 3900', and at the base of Roan we were at 4040'. Second, there are at least four false summits. So up we went climbing, climbing, climbing. At first there were a few long switchbacks, and then we just went up. Twice Swiftcreek said, "I think we made it!" No, Swiftcreek, keep going. And while all this was going on, the clouds rolled back in, the thunder started (although it wasn't close enough to keep us from climbing it was close enough to make us nervous), and then came the rain and hail. Rained on and off again for the rest of the day and was threatening storms. Finally made it to the summit after climbing forever and snapped a quick picture to prove we actually made it. It was at least 10* colder on Roan then it was when we started the day, so I was freezing in shorts and a longsleeved shirt. Finally got down off the mountain and got to Carver's Gap where Swiftcreek, Yoohoo and I scrambled to put more clothes on. We weren't done yet. Went up over Round and Jane Bald's (both over 5000') before practically collapsing into the shelter. Twenty miles with Roan Mountain to hike over is not easy to do. At the shelter we found Helium and his dalmation Freckles. Good to see them again. Decided that Roan and it's surrounding mountains would affectionately be known to us as "the mountains from hell". I'm sure that in the right weather and when you haven't planned 20 miles, Roan is great. But yesterday, I was just glad to be at the shelter and DONE. Whew! Told the guys that I was singing in my head, "Put one foot in front of the other" to myself as we climbed the never-ending mountain. Yoohoo said he sings, "Just keep swimming" from the movie Finding Nemo. Funny. I will never forget today as long as I live. Tough, but good.