Date: 2006-09-24
From: Boone, North Carolina

To: Erwin, Tennessee
Miles today: 79.5

Josh dropped us off at the trail on September 20th in the early afternoon. We had a great time visiting him at Appalachian State University. His and his sister's hospitality was wonderful. We got to eat some good food, relax, and catch up on old times. The day we got dropped off was pleasant. The climb out of that valley was fairly long, but they always are when you have a fully loaded backpack. During the day we passed Laurel Falls which was an impressive waterfall in a fairly deep and rocky gully. This happened a long time ago so the details of this time period are beginning to escape me. However, darkness caught up with us a little earlier than we had hoped so we stopped short of our goal at the Moreland Gap Shelter. We camped in a freshly bulldozed field just south and enjoyed fresh apples and probably the best sunset of the entire trail. That next day I remember almost nothing of it exceptthe very end which consisted of a long steep climb up to a campsite below Hump Mountain. At the campsite we experienced an incredibly strong wind and the tarptent withstood it very well. In the morning we headed up into the Roan Highlands on a less than perfect day. It was so windy that it was difficult to stay upright in the exposed grasslands we walked through at above 5,000 feet. The clouds would blow in and out through the course of the day, but views were almost non-existant. I ate lunch at the Stan Murray Shelter which was in a fairly well protected grove of trees. The cold weather kept me from enjoying my meal and jon took his break somewhere before I did. That afternoon I met a nice group of section hikers one of which had thru-hiked last year. We also passed by the highest shelter on the Appalachian Trail at 6,285 feet. Although we were high up in the air the terrain was flat, which made the day bearable. Our third day out the weather cleared up considerably. We crossed over a mountain called Unaka that was covered in Red Spruce trees. The atmosphere up there was very similar to that which we experienced in Maine and higher altitude New England. At a place called beauty spot there was a very nice view, and after I had left jon hiked through the area and talked with a group of mytics who were up there holding a fall solstice drum circle. Kind of Strange. At the shelter that night we camped near a family group with two fathers and all of their young children who were cousins. They were a really nice family and the kids were so genuinely excited to meet us it was fun. They were showing us cartwheels, mushrooms they found, and talking so excitedly they rarely took the time to breath. They also gave us a little extra chicken stew that they had eaten for dinner which was appreciated. In the morning we set off early to resupply in Erwin, Tenn. Just as we got out of the woods and to a hostel called Uncle Johnny's the rain began to fall. He gave us a shuttle into town where we got groceries and ate at a chinese buffet. The food was great and our timing was even better since by the time we left the restaurant the sun was again out. Johnny came to pick us up and before you know it we were back on the trail.