Date: 2005-04-16
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: US 19E / Elk Park, NC
Miles today: 15.2

Happy Birthday Sandman!It was cold this morning waking up in the top level of the shelter. It was 30 degrees in the "cabin". We didn't want to get out of our sleeping bags but knew we had to move on.It was a pretty easy hike to the next shelter, Stan Murray Shelter. We met a Boy Scout Troop there. They had quite a few tents set up around the shelter and had just finished cooking and eating breakfast, darn! It was cold for them last night too, as evidenced by the still frozen icicle that had formed from their leaking water bag. A group of women section-hikers had stayed in the shelter while the boy scouts were there. They left just as we arrived.Not much later we got to Overmountain Shelter. It is about .3m off the trail, so we didn't actually go to it. It is an old historical barn that has been renovated into a shelter for Thru-Hikers. We took a picture of this red barn shelter from Little Hump.We climbed up Little Hump and had lunch at Bradley Gap. We then "humped" it up Hump Mountain. When we got to the top we were fortunate to meet up with some local section-hikers who informed us about the long-horn cattle down below that we would be hiking right next to. We were glad to be warned about this so we weren't frightened. Cubby was a bit nervous still. We passed within 50 feet of them, they looked at us, we looked at them, but never did the two of us meet. Cubby was very happy about that, but she kept checking over her shoulder to see if they were "coming" after us. She kept calculating the distance between us, them, and the fence/gate in case they decided to charge us. It wasn't until we were within 30 feet of the fence/gate that she figured she would win that foot race. Thankfully all's well that ends well.Coming down off of Hump Mountain, we ran into southbound hikers, SugarBear and Snowflake. They told us about a hostel/B&B, .3m off the trail on road 19E. 19E has a reputation among hikers that goes something like this...Do NOT stop, camp or hitch-hike on this road. The reason being is that about 10 years ago the government forced some locals off their land to relocate the trail. These people are still very upset about it and dump trash on and near the trail. Their anger is reputed to extend to hikers as well. So knowing this, we had no intentions of getting off on 19E or camping near the road.SugarBear and Snowflake changed our minds rather quickly about 19E. They told us about Mountain Harbour B&B, .3m West on 19E. They said it was clean and a great place with great food. They said the owners were very hiker friendly. Also, it was Sandman's birthday and his knees were hurting him. When we added it all up, it equaled Mountain Harbour B&B!When we got there we checked out the Hostel, but THEN we checked out the B&B SUITE. Or should we say SWEET!! It was the "Jefferson" room, with a four-poster-king-size bed, jacuzzi tub, tv, sitting area, home-made dinner, and Ben&Jerry's Ice cream. She even did our laundry for us, folded it, and brought it up to our room on a tray! Needless to say, it beats any shelter on the A.T.. To hikers Jersey Judge and Acronym - We HOPE you find this place. It is just your speed and if you don't - "Eat our shorts!"Dinner was "home-made" beef stew with dumplings, biscuits, milk, and baked apple pastries for dessert. Boston asked Mary, the owner, to put a candle in two of the apple desserts to surprise both Cubby and Sandman for their birthdays! Boston and Cubby had a card and a gift for Sandman too. After dinner we went up to our suite to watch movie on DVD. We picked a "chick flick" intentionally, just to make up for all the "guy" tv that Sandman forced us to watch when he was in charge of the remote at the Holiday Inn Express in Erwin, TN.We got our packs set for an early start tomorrow and then went to bed.