Date: 2006-05-02
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Campsite @ mile 382.7
Miles today: 18.8

Being a little lazy this morning I rolled over a couple of times before getting up. The first thing I noticed was Roxy had disappeared during the night and was nowhere to be found. I called her a few times and looked around camp but still had no luck finding her. After breakfast we packed up and hit the trail pretty quickly due to the cool temperature. For it to be May 2nd it was still a bit chilly. Shortly after starting this morning we were faced with Hugh Gap presenting a good climb up to Roan Mountain. This section was pretty difficult because of the step terrain and terrible footing. You could definitely tell the elevation differences on the way up by the ever-changing landscape. It was starting to feel much like the Smokies again with views all around. Once on top of Roan Mountain the weather proved to be pretty bad. Although it wasn¢t raining it was cold and windy. We huddled next to the tree line to help protect us from the wind but there was no escaping the cold. We stopped for a quick lunch then started our descend down to Carvers Gap. The trails on this side of the mountain were really nice and had gravel in some locations and bridges over the wetlands in others. On the way down Roan Mountain we passed the highest shelter on the trail known as Roan High Knob Shelter sitting at 6,285¢ above sea level. Once at Carver¢s Gap we started into a section of the trail marked by several beautiful Balds. One being Round Bald and the other Jane Bald. On the way over to Jane Bald Jangles was excited. She wanted to get a picture with the sign showing her particular bald but when we got to the top there was no sign. Needless to say she was kind of let down. Even thought there wasn¢t a sign the views from the top of Jane Bald were spectacular and made for a good hike over to Over the Mountain Shelter. It is a landmark shelter that many plan to stay at during their trip. Over the Mountain was once an old red barn and now acts solely as a shelter for hikers on the trail. The Font side yields good views of the valley below and the top floor sleeps a ton of folks. After our stop since it was still early in the day we all decided to push on a little further before stopping to camp. Just before we hit Little and Big Hump Mountains a pretty bad wind storm set in but Baro was determined to make over the Mountains before the sun set. On the way up Big Hump the wind pushed us around like wind vanes but we all toughed it out and made it to the top. Gringo, Jangles, Baro, and I stopped long enough for a picture before moving on for safety.  On the way down the other side you could see Sugar Mountain Ski Resort off in the distance along with the lodge perched high on top of the ridge. After passing through a small gate on the way down we found ourselves standing in the middle of a pasture full of longhorn cattle. Although it was fun making our way though the field I just knew one of us was going to turn into a rodeo clown before it was over. Safely on the other side of the pasture we entered the woods for a rocky 2-mile hike into camp at Doll Flats. Just before reaching camp I spotted Roxy off in the distance and yelled for her. She came running out to us and followed us back into camp where we met up with Ranger Dawg and Model T for the night. Come to find out she left out of camp early this morning with a group of people and linked up with Model T and Ranger Dawg during the day and followed them for the rest of the day. If she stays with us tonight I am going to take her into town tomorrow and buy her some puppy food. That should win her over. Off to bed tonight tired and sore from a long but successful day over Roan Mountain.Tonight at Doll Flats: Gringo, Jangles, Baro, Model T, Ranger Dawg, Misfit, and I. We are missing Shasta and H-Bomb but they are shortly behind us.