Date: 2015-04-01
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Doll Flats
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up very early to try and catch up with the others at the next shelter, but ended up only leaving about 7.30am. It was a cold and sunny morning, and there was an almost immediate mountain climb up Roan. It was a long morning up. The mountain was quite steep at times. There was also a bit of snow and ice on the trail. It made hiking particularly hard even on the gentle parts. I fell over completely 3 times, and slipped repeatedly. Each time, I was very relieved when I stood up and hadn't caused serious injury to myself. It's a very real fear whenever I trip or twist or roll my ankle, and I'm afraid I will do some permanent damage. Eventually I made it down the mountain to the road gap, where I discovered that I had managed to completely miss the shelter that was on the mountain. At least the car park had a toilet, which are nearly completely absent from the shelters in Tennessee/North Carolina. I met Brightside on top of the next bald about lunchtime. I had my Nutella and snack bar tortilla in the wind and sun on top of the bald.The rest of the day was spent hiking over balds, just big climbs and descents repeatedly, with some wonderful panoramic views. It was really great weather to be walking across the balds, since I imagine it would be brutal in hard weather because of the length of time that you're exposed. I stopped in briefly at the converted barn shelter, which is notable because it's one of the largest shelters on the trail. It can hold 20 people! There were some college students laying in the grass, and I met Brightside and the Rhode Island Express there. I stopped there only briefly, and then we all left to climb even more giant exposed balds. The views again were incredible, I could see for what seemed like hundreds of miles. I got even more sunburn, which was inevitable with how little shade there was today. After a few more hilly balds, including one that had plenty of false summits, I finally returned to the trees. For about the last mile, the trail was incredibly rocky and rooty, to the point where I barely even touched the ground. I finally made it to the campsite about 5pm. Brightside, Laughtrack, Dopey, the Rhode Island Express, Axom & Shrug, and a couple other guys were already there. A few of us have hung our bear bags, but with so many people I doubt there will be any wildlife except for maybe mice and squirrels. Though- I must note that I didn't hear any mice at the shelter last night. Tonight Brightside, Laughtrack and a couple others are going to cowboy camp. This means they won't be using their tents. They've done it a couple times before, and Laughtrack seems to prefer to do so whenever possible. Personally, even though I don't especially trust it, I feel more comfortable sleeping in my tent. At the very least my tent does give me some semblance of privacy and protection from the bugs. I've just taken my sun hat off to discover that I have twigs in my hair. I have absolutely no idea how long they have been there. These days I usually just exchange one hat for the other- my thick winter thinsulate one for the sun one. I wear the thick one in camp and to bed (keeps my head warm and stops mice playing with my hair) and I wear the sun one for the majority of the day- if it's sunny, of course. Tomorrow I think we will be doing another 22 mile day to get to the shelter, since the weather is supposed to get bad from tomorrow. Brightside and I want to go to the hostel which is about 28 miles away, but unfortunately I don't think my body is capable of a 28 mile day yet. At the moment, my entire body feels extremely grubby. I washed my hands in the ice cold river before dinner but they have managed to get filthy already. There is also a serious layer of dirt on my arms, legs, face and anywhere else not covered by clothing. I'm really looking forward to having a shower soon. I also need to get a new phone service provider, since AT&T has rarely had any signal at all, let alone data. I will try to switch to Verizon when I can, it seems much more reliable for signal. ~ We are having an extremely windy night. Definitely the windiest I have experienced in my tent so far. The sheer loudness of the wind has been noisy enough to wake me up, even through my noise blocking earphones and music. Wave after wave of enormous thundering wind is coming crashing through the field and trees. Everyone who is cowboy camping is also nearby to a small open field. I will be interested to hear in the morning how their night has gone. I'm also vaguely impressed about how my tent is holding up so far, despite feeling a bit (or sometimes a lot) like it wants to take off. Fortunately, it is still dry. The moon is also massive, and so bright that even at nearly midnight I don't need a headlamp to see everything inside my tent. Tonight at least would be a good night if anyone decided night hiking is better than cowboy camping!