Date: 2018-05-04
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 30- Iron Mountain Gap (364mi) to Overmountain Shelter (387.2mi) (total 23.3)I would peek my head over the fabric part of our tent to periodically check the sunrise through the mesh. The night had been completely silent and the moon moved in an arc that I had incorrectly guessed. The morning was lackadaisical but not too bad with an 8:30am start. Wings was packed up before us and waited- he was gonna spend the whole day with us.He's a great conversationalist and we chatted steadily the whole day making the rolling elevation to the base of Roan Mountain pass quickly. At one point, we crossed paths with Handstand and Psych slackpacking south for the day and they said there may be trail magic after the summit for us! All bets were off for where we had planned to lunch; we were going to hike straight to Carver's Gap and test our luck.The miscommunication happened not too much later than that. It was getting hot and I was getting sweaty as we started the long climb back up to 6,000 feet. To prevent problems, I realized I needed a quick stop to put a bra on. The last thing Josh said to me was "We'll go slow".They only kind of did and after 15 minutes of speed hiking I knew they were just having a dandy ole time chatting it up. I didn't mind except that Josh had the map too and I was not extremely confident about the waypoints we would be hitting today. We had briefly talked about lunching at Carvers Gap so that was my backup plan if I didn't see them before hand.The Roan Mountain summit is not pronounced and I walked right by the technical top. I was so engrossed in the beautiful smell of the spruce-fir forest. You know how smells can trigger deep memories? I was being sent back in time to transformative backpacking trips in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was great having the time to myself to have some of these deeper, inner conversations. I came across a group of hikers sitting on the side of the trail and asked if they had seen men fitting Josh's and Wing's descriptions. They pointed up a side trail to a shelter with water. I assumed they were just refilling and told the group I was going to push on to Carvers Gap (for the potential trail magic) but I was getting hungry.The moment of terror struck when I got lost. I'd missed a sharp turn while having these deep thoughts. Suddenly my brain is racing- where am I, how far back did I get off the trail, what if the guys run by trying to catch up to me, I don't have a map or cell service, and finally, grrrr, now I have to walk back uphill retracing my steps to find the AT again. Luckily, it only took five minutes before I saw that group of hikers whom I'd spoken with earlier. They had relayed the message of me pressing on and the boys had not run ahead yet!I made it to the trail magic first. They trail angels were absolute sweethearts and helped me trick the boys by telling them we were all out of food and drinks when the arrived. It got a good laugh. I sipped on Cheerwine (like a cherry cola) with Cheetos and a banana in my lap while lounging in a reclining lawn chair. It was fun.After enjoying our lunch and trail magic and reuniting as a trio, we tackled the final miles of the Roan Highlands. It was the longest Bald ridge we have had the privilege of walking so far. I can see why people saw it's a highlight of this area with its great views. It seems like a true gem.Also a gem was the Overmountain Shelter where we decided to spend the night. It's well-known and we were glad our day naturally coincided with staying there. It's a big converted barn with a great view from the top of a forested valley (and a privy with a bedazzled seat lid, ha!). There were at least fifteen tents set up when we rolled in around five and realized it was almost all weekenders. The thruhikers were in the barn so that is where we rolled out our sleeping pads. After some stretching and back massages on the grass lawn, we cooked dinner and mingled with all of the cool hikers new to us. Someone finally showed us what ramps, a local wild onion, looks like and got confirmation that the Roan Mountain Hiker Fest was in fact happening tomorrow. All in all, today was a great and fun day!