Date: 2010-04-19
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 4319 miles today. I feel like a real thruhiker now, but I walked from 8:30am to 7:30pm to do it. 11 hours of walking is 2 more than I want to do per day on a regular basis. But I am here at Overmountain Shelter which is one of those 'don't miss' locations on the trail. Its a big two level barn with a great view. That may not sound like much to you, but to a hiker its pretty nice. There is at least 15 people on the second level and there is still enough room to hold a square dance in the remaining space. There are even more people downstairs and outside camping. All these people and it doesn't feel crowded at all.Quite a few people plan to zero here tomorrow. My friend Wildbill who thruhiked in 2006 zeroed here and said it was great. I just zeroed 2 days ago or I would be considering it too. But alas and slack I must soldier on and get some miles under my belt. I have to get my Dollar spent per mile hiked ratio down to much lower than what it has been if I am to have any hope of getting to Katahdin before I run out of money. Zeroing in the woods instead of town is one way to do that but I really need the town stops for now. Perhaps I am still to civilized to abandon them altogether. The hiking for the first part of the day was pretty boring. Not to flat, not to steep and very few views. And then I reached Roan Mountain. 2200' of elevation change over just 2.6 miles. On my elevation map it looks like Mt Everest. It took me 5 Jolly Ranchers to get up that climb. By the third one I was no longer sucking on them. I immediately ground it into paste with my teeth to get all the sugary energy supplying goodness I could get. I think I am awaking a lot of people to the awesome power of the Jolly Rancher with my Jolly Rancher hill difficulty ranking system. BTW until Roan no hill had been greater than 2 Jolly Ranchers.The Roan highlands were beautiful to walk through. I don't want to sound like balds have become boring, but I have seen so many mountain tops clear of trees now that I no longer feel the need to plop down at the top and soak it all in. This area was big enough that you walked for 2 miles out in the open with awesome views in every direction. This was around the 14 to 16 mile mark of today's hike so I was pretty tired. It was a nice pick me up. The best part of it was standing on a rock ledge looking back at the hilltop a 1/2 mile back and seeing a thruhiker come over the hill ... running at full speed. It was Kashmir making up for the hour and a half nap he too a few hundred yards away from where the shuttle dropped us off today. He isn't a big morning person and loves to sleep in, but the shuttle left at 7:30 and he had to be on it. I wish I could sleep as late as he does and still get his miles. He's a really strong hiker and the running does seem to bother him.I didn't see Tintin and Fredo much today. Its hard for me to keep up with them and the first hill puts a lot of seperation between us. When I got here I was so tired that I only hung around the fire long enough to eat and then climbed into my sleeping bag. There's a town about 8 miles away that I plan to resupply and get an early dinner before heading back on the trail tomorrow. I may see them there, but this is likely the last time I will see them unless they go to tail days in Damascus. I just can't hike these miles on a regular basis. Man, I am tired. The sandman is calling.Goodnight and sweetdreams to all of you out there not living the Jolly Rancher Dream.