Date: 2023-05-06
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: US-19/Mountain Harbour B&B
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

Today was another 16+ day. In theory, it shouldn't have been too bad. Across the entire 16 miles, the total ascent was about 2,500 feet and the total decent was about 5,800 feet. So, a lot more downhill than uphill.Unfortunately, about 1,500 of that 2,500 ascent happened in the span of about 3 miles. This occurred going up Little Hump first, which was about 900 feet, then Hump Mountain about a mile later which was about another 600 feet. It shouldn't have been as bad as Roan the day before because it wasn't as high and it was split up between two different balds instead of just one single climb, but even after having time to process the day, I still think today was harder than yesterday. I think two factors played into this. First, I did Roan yesterday. So, I probably wasn't completely recovered from that 3 hour climb. The second was that unlike almost every ascent I've done before, this one was completely in the open. Normally when I'm climbing, I'm in a wooded area so I can't really get a good gauge of how difficult the climb actually is. Little Hump and Hump were not like that at all. You could pretty much see from the bottom of the mountain all the way to the top because there were no trees or anything. So, as you're climbing it you can just look up and tell how far you've gone. Which was usually not as far as you thought. So, I think it just affected me mentally a lot different than all the other climbs I've done. I don't want to downplay it though. Both climbs were difficult on their own. They were very steep and pretty rocky at times, so it really did a number on my feet.The rest of the hike though was fairly easy. After Hump Mountain, it was almost all downhill right to the Mountain Harbor hostel which is where I'm staying. I was originally going to tent about 3 miles out and arrive in the morning, but decided to just get here today instead. I have a room reserved for tomorrow, but they were fully booked today so I have to tent on their property tonight. But, and this is the main reason I decided to get here today, they are supposed to have the best breakfast on the entire AT and I'll get to have it twice now instead of just once if I had waited until tomorrow to arrive.I have also officially completed the state of North Carolina. Since leaving Georgia, the trail has gone between North Carolina and Tennessee. I permanently crossed into Tennessee about 3 miles ago. From where I'm staying, it's only about 75 miles to Virginia and except for one section, the trail looks like it mellows out a little bit from here to Damascus. Which is good because I'd like to get through Tennessee as quickly as possible.One thing that might be irritating about tenting here tonight is that it's right next to a road that seems to be pretty busy. Hopefully it calms down at night, but I can already tell I'm going to get woke up in the night because of some passing semi truck or something like that.Breakfast: A Clif Nut Butter Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar and a Blueberry Lara BarSnack 1: Trail MixSnack 2: Trail MixSnack 3: Dried MangoesDinner: A double teriyaki burger with fries at the Mountain Harbour hostel.