Date: 2017-04-13
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: Campsite at the Elk River
Miles today: 17.5

Today was the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip. I sent Marlene texts, photos, and videos as I had good phone service from all the highest elevations. (She said she was jealous when she saw them). I was up early and hiked the first couple of miles in the early morning woods to the Overmountain Shelter. This is a classic old red barn in a very remote location and it was converted to a hiker shelter - at Yellow Mountain Gap. I stopped to filter water at the spring. I think this barn has been used as scenery and location in a couple of movies and the Overmountain Men did a famous long march to help win a Revolutionary War battle. Lots of history. Back on the main trail I started into a beautiful section - Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain. For background, let me say that I had hiked through here in 2004 but with low hanging clouds and on Hump Mountain I was right in the clouds - 20 feet of sight distance. I recalled Little Hump Mountain, a dip between and then Hump Mountain itself. Today was completely clear with perfect distance viewing. However, I was mistaken by the details. After leaving Overmountain Shelter, I began a climb up what I thought was Little Hump Mountain. I recalled the trail being right out in the open on the grassy bald. But the trail spent a lot of time in trees at the edge, occasionally venturing out in the open, then back in the trees again. I will say that Little Hump Mountain is sort of a "double hump" but I did not know that from my previous trip. I climbed what I thought was Little Hump, saw a dip between, and then saw what I thought was Hump Mountain itself - looking distant, high and awesome. That lined up with what I knew from the previous hike. So when I reached the summit of the second mountain imagine my surprise to see off in the distance the huge summit of Hump Mountain above with its base and 3 1/2 miles of trail from my location up the flank to reach the top. All of this had been hidden the last time. I had climbed the whole thing totally surrounded by swirling clouds with near zero visibility. Today I saw the entire mountain in great clear detail. I was awestruck and could not wait to climb it. I came out of the trees and hiked about 50 feet to a large flat rock beside the trail and took off my pack. I got a few pictures and looked and looked. Three other hikers came by and helped by taking my picture. Then I watched as they started out, looking small after 5 minutes. After 10 minutes they looked tiny, having done about 10% of the climb. Above and beyond them were other single hikers or pairs spread out, with the tiniest little spec at what I thought was the top - a lone hiker up there. I mentally marked various landmarks along the way where hikers were located so I could remember how they looked from below when I reached their location. Then I started out. It was a very tough climb really, but I hardly noticed. The day was crystal clear. I'd hike awhile then stop and look back at my flat rock view point below and at my progress up the side. Over and over. The huge mountain flanks are mostly open and grassy. Along the way are areas of black boulders clustered together. These were massive as I approached each one. On the previous hike I did not even see these until I was standing in front of them 20 feet away. The highest boulder field looked like it was at the top from below. But as you near the summit there are 3 lines, called faults, successively higher, where huge slabs of bedrock tilted out of the mountain and up into the open air. These were not even visible from below as the summit rounded over and out of sight. I reached each of the three in turn and then saw the familiar line of 4 x 4 posts with white blazes denoting the trail over the curve of the summit and out of sight, coming into view one by one as I hiked along. Finally I saw a pile of rocks - a fire pit where brave hikers camped - right at the top of the summit. Celebration time!! At the several stopping points along the way up my flat rock viewpoint at the bottom was so small I had to strain to see it. The day was clear and the picture looking down was crystal clear. I was looking at a live view, but I thought of a digital picture, imagining the location of my flat rock below was a single pixel. Along the way I would see hikers emerge from the trees, approach my flat rock and then start the climb. Tiny and almost invisible. After staring for a long time from the summit I got so I could see the same thing - so miniscule I had to note the movement of the person to know they were there. So beautiful. There is one summit, sticking oddly up into the air and falling off steeply on the back of the mountain. The descent north is a series of shoulders and ridges, open and grassy. It takes a long time to reach the edge, successively lower, and enter the trees behind a split rail fence line. I hiked along taking pictures and videos all the way up, across the top, and down to the north edge and sending them to Marlene - great phone reception. As I left the summit I thought about what power God has to make such things, and how the whole earth is a mere grain of sand. When I left the summit and entered the trees there was normal trail until I reached the descent down the mountain directly below the highest point of the summit. The odd shape of that part of the mountain was due to large chunks of rock having broken off and rolled down, ages past, and forming a very rocky difficult trail all the way down to the bottom. I eventually came to an area called Doll Flats. This is a picturesque remote mountain farm with neat buildings, Christmas tree lots, and terraced land, possibly grapes (?). A little further I came to a park-like place but in a remote area - not like a town park - where I stopped for lunch, sitting on a huge smooth horizontally placed boulder. A small sign read LEAVING NORTH CAROLINA - signifying that I was in Tennessee and had completed North Carolina - second state down. I will be at the Tennessee/Virginia border in about 5 days. The remainder of the day I crossed footbridges over remote streams. I passed remote mountain churches and even more remote and very old cemeteries. Finally I dropped down to a very remote 100 foot tall waterfall (Jones Falls) and took a short side trail to see it. Then on to where the waterfall stream joined an even more remote section of the Elk River. New spring grass covered a bench-like formation above the river bank. There are 4 of us tenting here listening to the river and the song of the frogs and the owls calling off in the forest. Not sure why but I had good phone reception. Called Marlene from my tent at dark just to talk. The perfect ending to a great day. Goodnight Sweetheart.