Date: 2010-04-17
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

I'm not sure if I can put today's events into a short journal entry, but I'll try. It was a day of extremes. It was a day of unexpected, mystical happenings.First of all, I awoke to the first rain we've had in over a week. This meant that I didn't get that gorgeous sunrise over the valley from my sleeping bag (I'll just have to come back for that someday), but it was amazing watching the clouds blow across the valley, by the second changing from no visibility to 2 or 3 folds of silhouetted mountains, and then back again. The morning's hike was insane. I had to climb Little Hump Mtn. and Hump Mtn, both open balds. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but the wind was unbelieveable. I had to hike literally leaning hard into the wind to keep my footing. I was completely socked in by clouds. At times, I yelled out at nothing just trying to express the intensity of the situation. Sure enough, though, I made it to the top, and as I climbed down the north side, the weather got more and more mild. I hiked the rest of the morning's miles in no time, and was soon at the road. I was greeted there with a magic Dr. Pepper by Dirt Stew and Dormouse's friend, Gavin (since renamed Chef). It was SO good! Then it was on to Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel. Attention future thru-hikers - STAY HERE IF YOU CAN!!! If you're not doing something silly like trying to catch a group of stinky boys, I highly recommend you plan a night here! The property is beautiful and only .3 mile from the trail. The hostel is over the barn and is like no hostel I've ever seen. It's cozy and homey and is kept nice, more like a rentable apartment than a hostel. There are even real beds! At $18 a night, it's a great bargain. As it is, I had to pick up packages, but had decided ahead of time not to stay. Even with that, I almost decided to ditch my plans and stay anyway. I dropped my pack and went to the house to meet Mary, who told me packages are in the hostel and to take a break and make myself at home. She never asked for any money but my Companion says $5 for non-guests' maildrops, so I left $10. I had a wonderful nearly 2-hour break there, in which I read, called my mom, and sorted through two packages. One was my mail drop from home (which became a little silly since I didn't stay the night and will be at Kincora just over 24 hours later). Thanks so much to Mom and Dad for your hard work sending these and for the extra surprises and goodies you throw in. The second package was from Storm (GAME '09). What a fun trail care package!!! She sent a sweet card, a bunch of yummy snacks, Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints!), some luxury toiletries, and some pages of Mad Libs. The package was PERFECT, Storm!!! Thank you so much!!!After my amazing lunch break, I was back on the trail by about 2:30. By then, the weather had completely cleared off and was blue-sky beauty! The afternoon's hike was both gentle and beautiful. I took a short side trail to an incredible waterfall and took a fairly long snack and reading break there. Even though today was an 18-mile day, it felt like a lazy afternoon. Shortly after my waterfall break I got my THIRD instance of trail magic for the day! I came upon Eric, Renee, and Bev, camped at a beautiful spot by the Elk River, who were thoughtful enough to actually pack in oranges for thru-hikers. I sat there, delighted, and ate it as we had a great little conversation. Thanks so much, you three! Eric, I hope you get to thru-hike someday! The evening has been great, as well. As I neared the shelter, I just barely heard music coming through the trees. I hiked up to find folks sitting around the campfire and Chef skillfully playing the penny whistle. The atmosphere at the shelter turned out to be one of my favorites yet (close to the campfire at Rock Gap Shelter). I spent a couple of hours sitting around the fire as I cooked my dinner, laughing and listening to folks tell stories. Later in the night, Chef once again played his whistle and even sang us a couple of ballads. We all wish he was hiking with us and would be at every shelter!As if all of this weren't enough, we ended the night in guffaws over a couple of Mad Libs. What a great shelter night!The trail and its wonders continue to delight me. Postscript, April 17, 2011: I am so enjoying reliving days like this one. That hike over the balds was so completely ridiculous, but then I felt incredible having made it, and the day turned into one of wonders. As it turns out, Braids was just behind me, and I think she may have actually stayed at Mountain Harbour with Red Hat that night. She and I both hope to stay take a trip someday that includes a stay at Mountain Harbour and a great sunrise at Overmountain Shelter.