Date: 2016-05-18
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Elk River Camp
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

5/18 - Day Forty FourThey don't get much better than today (or to say it another way, this is one to remember when a bad day comes along).The day really had three parts - the 10 mile hike from the Overmountain Shelter to the Mountain Harbor Hostel in Roan, TN, the quick resupply and burger-fest in Roan and then the 6 mile hike out that ended at a real cool camp sight along the Elk River.Part One - One by one we rolled out of the tobacco barn. Before leaving I met Storm (who is also blogging on this sight). As I left the shelter entrance I caught Yeti (formally known as Little Joe, but he evidently did some kind of wacky/primal dance around the bonfire at Trail Days that made him appear like a Yeti and...). Well Yeti took the wrong turn out of the shelter this am and was back at ground zero after a 2 mile detour. Don't think this happens only to guys named Yeti, it's easy to do. I left camp with a group of high school seniors that were doing a 50 mile senior trip. They evidently had learned all they could learn in high school and were granted permission to go hike on the AT.... The crew was lead by Adam. I did not get anyone else's name, but they were good kids. I have to be honest, I felt good blowing them away as we hit the first climb. I guess it's official, I have my trail legs.I caught up with Special K. Her shorter strides make her going slightly slower. We hiked over two very high and beautiful balds together followed by Adam and his crew and Flora and Junebug (I think they are sisters?) right behind us. I continue to meet new people including "The ladies" (Flora and Junebug), Jackrabbit, Jeffe, Storm, Ompi, etc. The climbs over the balds were not easy! One was about 800 feet and one was 900 feet. Because they are balds you can see the trail snaking its way up the mountain. At first one gets that "no way in hell is that trail going up there" feeling, but then you just go with it. The hiking was not easy, but the morning views were well worth it. On top of the second bald Justin was waiting to show me a plaque that stated we were in Houston Ridge. To date, today's morning 10 miles are my favorite on the AT.After that we caught Mayfly and hiked our way down to Highway 19. The hike was all downhill and was taxing (downhills can be brutal). By the time we reached the highway it was 1 pm.Part Two - We walked the short distance down to Mountain Harbor. We all needed some recharges on our phones and Mayfly had a box at the hostel. It was too nice of a day to quit and I let Justin and Mayfly know I was grabbing resupply items and getting back on the trail. They decided to return as well. We agreed to hitch a ride into Roan (a few miles a way) and eat at Bob's Dairy Barn. Now hitching on the AT is a lot easier than anywhere else and we instantly found a character in a convertible Camaro up to cart stinky hikers into town. I believe his name was Bob (I assume unrelated to the Bob at the Dairy Barn, but who really knows?).Entering the Dairy Barn we discovered that for 12 bucks one could nosh on a Holy Cow Burger. Just listening to the list of ingredients that were the kid behind the counter rattled off (I think he worked on a commission) at the made my heart beat irregularly ... Three hamburger parties, 6 strips of bacon, a pile of ham, a scoop of chilly and to top it all off a few O-rings. This thing was a bonafide colon bomb. I was going to play it safe and stick with a pulled pork Sandwhich when I was swayed by fellow hikers Jack Rabbit and Jeffee (who just ravished their own death burgers and were glowing as if overdosing on calories) the colon bomb was the right choice. So I caved in and ordered one. Mayfly also ordered one, but with fries.This creature was mean and it was bound to do me harm. I could feel my arteries hardening as I dove in. Man, this thing made the Baconater from Wendy's seem like a light snack! I don't know if the Dairy Barn sells many of these to non-hikers but I can assure you Mayfly and I did not eat dinner and that was after hiking another 6 miles.So with phones charged and resupply completed at the Mini-Mart we hitched back to the heady. This time a dentist who loved to hiked was kind enough to give us a lift.Part Three - We marched on up the hill and out of the gap into a big rain storm. Although heavy, it would not last long, and we soon found that we were making good miles. We set the goal for the next shelter 8 miles away. We were feeling good and just about an hour before dark we found a great campsite on the Elk River... 2 miles Shy of the 8 miles, but the waters looked "trout suspicious" so we thought we would call 16 miles for the day good and test our suspicions in the morning. We also know we can do the miles needed tomorrow to get to where we left off before Trail Days. So we built a fire, pitched our tents and for the first time did not cook at night. The colon bomb is still with me... I bet I don't eat all day tomorrow either. Whether off the trail or on, I am confident there will be shitty days in the future, and when that happens I will hold onto today as this was truly a great day on the AT. I feel I have to once again thank Kelly for holding down the fort and giving me the opportunity to experience this epic day.Now for some clarifications... I met Storm and he was surprised to meet me. He blogs here as well. I have blogged under the name "jakethefake" for over a year. I kinda figured I would go by that or "Jake" on the trail, but that's not the way the AT works. How it works is someone says... Hey you look like The Dude in the Big Lebowski and, well, it sticks. So out here on the AT I am The Dude. I just wanted to mention that in case anyone else is hiking and reading my blog and wondering who I am. Finally, I have been told there is another The Dude that is no longer on the trail that pulled some dumb-ass moves earlier this year. I am not that The Dude.