Date: 2004-03-02
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: Mountain Harbour Bed and Breakfast
Miles today: 10.4

Log entry: 31Starting time: 0900Ending time: 1500Morning weather: rain, mid 40sAfternoon weather: rain, mid 40sEvening weather: mostly all rainBreakfast: CIB and Star Crunch and JelloLunch: noneDinner: double bacon cheeseburger, fries, onion rings, can of Dr Pepper from Country House RestaurantTrail description: Really cool over the balds. Very tough in the slushy snow (3-10 plus inches in spots) and the climbs were very long but manageable. After the balds a very long and favorable downhill to Applehouse Shelter.People: Mikey, the Solemates, Beetle and Sasha dog, Kringle, Mary and Terry HillAnimals: Sasha dog and goats from the b & bMoney spent: $7 @ Country House, $2 @ Donna's Market for Cheerwine and Cadbury Creme EggsBiggest complaints: Cold, miserable rain, trail was hard to walk in (lots of post holing)Thoughts: We awoke at 0730 to the soothing patter or rain. soothing that is until you realize that you can't pour yourself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, a cup of coffee, and turn on the Today show. But we made the best of what we had and enjoyed life in our mummy bags. Beetle left by 0800 and we waited a while. Our options for the day were 10 miles to Apple House, 28.4 to Moreland gap Shelter, or tent somewhere in between (in the driving rain). We planned on apple house so we were in no hurry. As we ate breakfast I pulled out my cell phone just for kicks and it turned out I got service so I called home and let Moms know that we were all doing fine. We all decided that it wasn't getting much dryer so we hit the trail. The trail was really awesome. Worth coming back to when this is all over and the skies are clear and bright. Beetle said that on his thru in 2000 this stretch of trail was his favorite. Jacob had hiked these balds before and agreed they were great. But all mike and I got to see was clouds. That was when we could open our eyes enough to see through the rain. Not long into the day we all kinda thought a warm dry place sounded pretty nice. As we descended down the bald we all fell hard multiple times. The trail was rocky, rooty, wet, and icy so God was good to us by getting us safely to Apple House Shelter.  We were greeted by Sasha dog as we approached the shelter. Apple House is kinda like a cabin, 4 walls and a doorway. Inside was Beetle and a dude named Kringle. Kringle had some plastic hahnging inside and afire going. The funny thing is that there is not a fire place inside. But there were rocks and plenty of smoke. The rain had let up and we all sat outside trying to decide if we wanted to head into Elk Park or Roan Mountain. US19E was like a third of a mile up the trail. There is only one place to stay in the Handbook which is the opposite direction of the restaurant. Wet boots, wood smoke, and a cramped shelter gave us all the motivation we needed to head to US19 and get a bite to eat. We had no desire to set up a wet camp. So on we went. Once at US19 we stood by the pulloff and Jacob ran a few hundred yards up the road to try to flag down a ride. After 15 tense minutes a small, white Toyota pickup flew by. We all then turned our attention back the other direction. We heard a "clunk" and then the wind of a foreign manual transmission at about 5000 RPM. Sure enough, the Toyota pickup was running in reverse in the wrong lane of traffic. he shortly moved over so at least he was traveling in the right direction but still backwards. I ran across to him and he thumbed us all into the bed. We asked him if he could take us two miles up the road to the Country House Restaurant and he said sure. I was the last one in and he didn't wait for me to sit down before he popped the clutch and left about 300 miles worth of rear tire tread on the side of the road. He drove at an alarming speed and came to a screeching halt in front of the restaurant. as we jumped out i asked him if there were any places to stay in town and he thought for a minute and said, "no, but I'll tell you what after I get back from running my little girl here to the hospital, I'll stop back in here and if y'all are still here I'll take care of ya". I then noticed a pale little 9 year old slumped in the passenger seat. All I said was "okay". None of us could believe he was headed to the hospital and still stopped for us. As we walked up to the entrance a nice cowboy told us we could store our packs in the tool crib next to the diner. We oblidged, dropped packs, and headed in. We quickly found a seat and began pouring over the menu. as we browsed the heavens opened again. we were glad to be inside. after placing our order the was brought out in waves. The waitress brought out Trisha's plate of chicken nuggets and dropped the bills. We didn't think much ofit until an hour later when she didn't return. We ate fast and talked about our options for the nights stay. We all would have ordered desserts and definetely wanted refills. But the waitress totally ignored us. We sat in the diner for 2 hours and no one even cleared our plates. It was unlike anything I have ever been through. When we finally went up to pay the bill we asked if he (the cowboy) knew of anywhere to stay in or near town. He replied with a quick no. I then asked for the nearest payphone which was a few hunred yards downhill at a convenience store. So we headed to Donna's Market and sure enough, no payphone. I asked inside about the location of a pay phone and she said we could use the house phone so long as it was local or we used a calling card. We thumbed through a phone book and I made a mess of calls. Everything was either closed or 20 miles away. Finally we found a bed and breakfast that wouldn't take us but gave us the number to Mountain Harbour B & B. I then called Mary there and she cut us a deal and said she would pick us up too. Can't beat that. As we waited the 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive, Donna gave us leftover pizzas that she wasn't going to sell. We all then felt espcially compelled to buy something so I grabbed a Cheerwine and some Cadbury eggs. Cheerwine is my new favorite soda but only availible in the Carolinas. It's kinda like a cherry Dr Pepper. Less than 10 minutes after the call Terry pulled in and we loaded up. It turns out that Mountain Harbour in less than .2 of a mile left on US19E where the AT crosses.Mary said they gave all their info to the lady from the guide book and were supposed to be in the 04 edition. What made me mad was that none of the locals mentioned it. Anyways Mountain Harbour is so cool and luxurious. We all dried out, showered, ate lots of popcorn, drank ounces of Chek soda, and then watched college basketball and Pirates of the Carribean on a 50 inch plasma TV. Oh yeah, then I fell asleep on a king sized bed.