Date: 2007-05-10
From: Clyde Smith Shelter, TN

To: Overmountain Shelter, TN
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

Ok, so I have to talk about last nite. I'm slumbering peacefully when at 1:45a.m. I get suddenly woke up by the sound of very heavy footsteps in the woodsaround me. This was something big, because it was cracking and breakingbranches on the ground. It almost sounded like a person nite hiking, but theywould not have been to the south of my hammock, because the trail was north ofme! I layed there listening to it getting closer and closer. Meanwhile, my heart is beating out of my chest (kind of like that poem "theRaven" by Edgar Allen Poe) and I'm trying to figure out the best course ofaction. Do I:a. Lay there as quietly as possible until whatever it is decided to come andeat meb. Get up, turn on my headlamp and yell really loud to scare it awayc. Get up and quickly grab my hiking pole, bring it into my hammock with me andstay at the ready to defend myself if it came too closeI actually chose to just lay there and listen. I mean what could I really havedone? I think it got within 30 ft of my hammock, but it didn't go to my food(which was hanging in a tree about 20 feet away). Remember, I was camping upthe trail all by myself, so no one would have heard me if I started yelling. LOL I did talk to a guy who was down @ the shelter. He said he heard it tooand when he got up to pee, he turned his headlamp on and there were 2 pairs ofeyes staring back! He said the eyes were really far apart, indicating whateverthis was, it was big. I believe it was small bears or sasquatch. LOLSo I woke up @ 6:15 a.m. with my alarm. It was 51 degrees inside my hammock,and I did not use a sleeping pad! I'm pretty excited about that. I got up @6:30 a.m. and I was actually ready to hike in 1 hour! I waited about 10 minutesfor Peristent, and we were off by 8:00 a.m.We had the infamous 6,000+ ft. tall Roan Mountain to get over today. First wehad a few miles of steep ups and then downs to get to it. Another beautifulday, and it was encouraging that we got started 1.5 hrs earlier than normal.It didn't take long before the sweat was pouring down. North Carolina\Tennesseis tough folks. Very very steep mountains, and lots of them one after another. In Georgia, it seemed like we had 1 (maybe 2) to get over in a day, but here,it's like 10 steep climbs in 1 day.We finally started up Roan Mountain and Oh..Ma..Ga... It was SO hard!! Straight up, sometimes I had to throw my poles up ahead to grab onto a tree orrock, just to get up the verticle sections. This mountain has my vote for thehardest mountain to climb since we started in Georgia! It was beautiful at the same time. Parts of the mountain were fields of greenwith little white flowers everywhere, some were huge boulders and slabs of rock,and other parts were thick spruce forests that smelled so good. It was, howeverabsolutely exhausting. It took us 5 hours to go 5 miles!!We did finally reach the top and it was glorious. Warm sun, a big grassy fieldthat we just lay in. In the 1800's there was a hotel built on the top. Some ofthe foundation is still there. Apparently the NC\TN border ran thru the hoteldining area. It was illegal to drink alcohol in TN, but not in NC, so thepatrons would have to make sure they were in the legal half of the dining areato drink alcohol. We layed there for a bit, and I promised myself a Snicker bar when I reached thetop. Our snacking throught the day, taking several shorter breaks also seemedto work well.Now it was back down this giant. Again very pretty, but hell on the feet andknees. We got to the sign for Roan High Knob Shelter, and Persistent went toget us water. I just sat there and listened to the wind in the trees. Not surewhat it is, but wind sounds very different @ high elevations. Can't explain itbut that it sounds more high pitched and more free to blow. Same sound as inthe Smoky's.Persistent is having a hard time with her left heel getting blisters from hernew shoes. It's my right heel, but mine isn't as bad as hers. Breaking in newshoes out here really sucks.The trail was very rooty and rocky in some places. We got it all though. Aftergeting down Roan Mt., we hiked over some balds, which had stunning views. Thenit was beautiful thick green again. It smelled great too.It was 70 degrees @ 2:00 p.m. We wanted to get to Overmountain shelter ifpossible. We finally got to the shelter before, Stan Murray Shelter, and therewere a bunch of day hikers there. One lady gave me a huge handful of peanuts!mmmm Her son and nephew both thru-hiked in 2005. She was with a group offriends, and they were headed to Overmounain Shelter as well.We stood there and talked to them and it was another 1.7 miles to go. It was5:30 p.m. when we left for that last section. It would have been 7:00 p.m. ifwe had left camp @ the normal time this morning. We got to Overmountain Shelter @ 6:15 p.m. This shelter is a huge 2 story barnthat can sleep like 20 people. This barn was used as a backdrop in a moviecalled "Winter People." It is a fantastic view of a valley here. However thewind sweeps up from the valley, so it is cooler here.We're here tonight with those day hikers, a couple from Arkansas (super nice),and 3 other guys. I'm totally spent from this hike today, but am excited that wewere able to get a little further and this was a very tough 12.9 miles! I guessgetting up earlier really does make a difference. It is currently a cool 60 degrees at 9:15 p.m. If I have many more climbs liketoday, my calf muscles are going to look like Popeyes! LOL One more day ofreally tough terrain, and then some stuff that looks way easier. I'm ready. ~Certain