Date: 2006-05-02
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Campsite after Hump Mtn.
Miles today: 19.1

What a day! Thank you God for such beautiful weather all day long and for keeping the rain away. Thank you for the strength to get through a rather long day of mountains, bluffs, and balds to climb. Today was a true test of will and You provided the ability for us to do so. Thank You! It all started this morning, as our first 100 yds from Clyde Smith Shelter would start with an uphill climb. Our main goal was to get past the dreaded Roan Mountain we had heard all about. We had heard it was suppose to rain, so we were rushing to get there before the storm hit. Little did we know how the day would end up. Our first "warm-up" of the day would be over Little Rock Knob. Then on to Beartown Mountain. Although there were no bears spotted, it was a "bear" of a climb. It was straight up with few switch backs, then several rocks to climb. Exhausted after reaching the top, we realized we were only half-way up to Roan Mountain. How would I have the energy to make it? Doubts started creeping in. I ate a Powerbar and took a quick break; not so much because I was hungry, but mostly because I needed to mentally get myself pumped up for more hiking.   After the quick break to re-energize, I put on my headphones for some extra motivation....music. Although I try to use them as little as possible out here, sometimes the extra encouragement from positive, upbeat songs just helps that much more. And it did in this case. Roan Mountain turned out to be one of the toughest climbs yet with contant steep inclines , no switchbacks, and requiring some hands on climbing at times. We were all so thankful to make it to the top without a drop of rain. It was a little overcast, very windy, and very cool, but we ate lunch at the top before heading off again. Our journey would then take us up and over a series of balds- Round Bald, Engine Gap, and Jane's Bald ( I wanted to get a picture of this one- but there was no sign)- before a nice cruise to the Stan Murray Shelter for another snack. It was still early afternoon, but we decided to press on to the next campsite about 4 miles away. On the way, we passed by a famous barn shelter to the A.T. It's actually an old barn with a loft and good picnic area that could probably house about 30 hikers for a night. It would be ideal in a rainstorm. It's been mentioned in different A.T. publications, so we felt like we were viewing history and fame as we just stopped by to visit. We continued to make great time as we were hiking at a fairly good pace and our legs managed to still feel pretty strong, so we pressed on even further. We had already covered about 16 miiles on the day, conquered Roan Mtn, and made it to our original campsite we had in mind earlier in the day; but, we kept going. It probably would have been logical to stop just before the next set of mountains to come and start with them in the morning, but we didn't. For some reason, Baro, Mouse, Gringo, and I had extra energy we needed to burn, so we went for it. Little Hump Mountain ended up being another test, just before the final exam....Hump Mountain. As we were climbing Hump Mountain, which was basically an open, grassy, bald with an incredible 360 degree view of all of the surrounding mountains, I felt as though we were in a movie. The winds were so powerful as to almost knock us down with every little step as we were climbing from 3,500 ft to over 5,000 ft in elevation in a little over one mile. As we were getting closer to the top, we spotted some animals off in the distance. We couldn't exactly determine what they were until getting closer, so our anxiety and excitement was building up. Much to our surprise, there were cows on top of this bald just grazing in the field; and the A.T. ran right through the middle of the herd. It must have been nearing feeding time, because as soon as we kept moving closer towards them, they all started herding together and following us along the trail. It had to have been a hilarious sight to see 4 hikers with their backpacks, walking across an open field, with cattle herding behind them, as the surrounding mountains and first signs of twilight watched on. What a sense of humor God must have as He was probably witnessing this and laughing to Himself. So here we are. Finally making it to our campsite. Even though we ended up hiking a very long day, and it seemed to be a marathon of endless hills and mountains, it was well worth it. It looks like it's going to be a clear night. It's going to be a great night of sleep for me. I'm exhausted and my legs are just now realizing they are actually finished hiking for the day. I'm starting to feel a little soreness from the day, but I know I will wake-up in the morning, ready to do this all over again.