Date: 2009-05-07
From: Piney Bald

To: Damascus
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: scattered clouds

A few housekeeping items......I will go back and edit and add pictures, so if you're interested, check back.. I only got off the trail a few hours ago, and I want to write as much as I can while I can still feel the mountains around me....One thing I need to tell you is me and Billy have known each other for many years. We hadn't seen each other for 6 or 8 years, but I think the world of him and when he expressed an interest in hiking with me, I was delighted. I wish I could recount all the discussions we had on the trail, of friends lost or nearly forgotten, of lives lived and lives wasted, of spiritual things and natural things. The time I spent with Billy was a constant inspiration and cleansing of my soul, which is the reason I hike, if you get right down to it.The other thing I wanted to tell you, is....well..we kept finding snickers wrappers on the trail. Some whole ones, some just slivers, but every mile or two we'd find one. We picked up most of them, but it became almost wierd, like a trail of breadcrumbs.....more on this later. Where was I?....oh yeah, hoping for a dry night on Piney Bald. Was not to be. Woke up with no wind, but rain pecking at my tarp. Later the rain fell harder, then that first brilliant flash of lightning that left me seeing red spots even though my eyes where closed. Then the unbelievable clap and roar of thunder. Never experienced anything like it. Luckily, it never struck the trees on our high mountain top, but stayed right above us in the clouds for hours, the rain coming down relentlessly. Finally felt some cold water around my feet, and more by my shoulder. I knew I would be wet before morning. When the dawn came, I heard Billy crawl out of his tent, and I knew he didn't sleep either. We packed up in a light rain, and counted our blessings that we didn't get hit by lightening or falling trees. A rough night, for sure. And then out of the moist camp clothes and into the icy cold wet hiking clothes...3rd day of wet feet and squishy shoes and mud.....why are we doing this again?Of course our big challenge was yet to come. Billy had asked me before the trip if I was planning on climbing Everest someday, I replied as near as I can figure, Roan Mountain, at 6275', IS Everest. It loomed at the end of our day. Today. We slogged down Piney Bald Mtn in the mud and light rain, crossed Greasy Creek Gap and started up the other side. Eventually weak sunlight came out, and we dump our packs and dried everything in the sun. Up and over past Clyde Smith Shelter, where wet people were just starting their day, then we started the steep climb up Little Rock Knob. By this time we were very sore and a little weak, and the steep pitches came at a high price. Never the less, we made it up a little at a time, talking of old friends, and philosophical books we had read, deer in Indiana, and the nature of spirituality. We felt the Indians may have climbed this high knob to pray and meditate, and the conversation naturally rose as we gained elevation. Eventually the footpath turned into a rock scramble, and we looped our sticks over our arms and forced our sore muscles to climb hand over hand up the rocks. Near the top we came out on an overlook with at least a 1000' drop and a view that went on forever!! Billy climbed up over the edge to a ledge I couldn't see and scared the heck out of me. Later we wound our way down and over a considerable little hump to the road at Hughes Gap. We took a long break, and then began our assault on Roan Mountain. Mr. Parkay passed us as we began our assent, which started as a steady grade in an old roadbed. It was afternoon, and we were wore down, but excited to be finally climbing our Everest. We took lots of short breaks and breathers, and slowly worked our way up the endless climb. Our plan was to take a long break at Ash Gap, which is about 1/2 way up, and consider our options from there. We arrived at Ash Gap at a little past 3:00, after a constant 3 hour climb. We filled our water bottles and talked it over. Ash Gap offered level ground, protection from the wind, and sweet spring water. Another mile and 1/2 up the Mtn was Roan High Knob shelter, which I had heard tended to be exposed, cold and windy. After our lessons learned on top of Piney Bald, I felt the smart thing to do would be to bed down early, rest, and hit it hard in the AM. Billy agreed with me, although I think he still had some fight left in him, and we called it a day. We sat and watched as people came by, some to just rest before the final climb, some to smoke a cigarette or pipe, some to get water. But they all went up....and we sat and watched them go.