Date: 2014-04-21
From: Erwin, TN

To: Elk Park, NC
Miles today: 50.3
Weather: clear sky

I'm sitting in the Iris Room of a private home, B&B owned and run by Steve and Ann Campbell in Roan Mountain, TN. It's a great place to relax away from the trail and I would recommend it highly! I got here in three days by putting together three long hikes of 16.4, 16.3, and 17.6 miles over the three days from Erwin after I decided to continue to see how my left knee would hold up. The most important thing I did is take off the slip-on brace I had been wearing for the last 10-12 days. My knee felt much better and was far less swollen at the end of the day. I think the brace was just adding to the pressure over the iliotibial band as it passed over the lateral femoral condyle, making the inflammation worse. Whatever the reason, I was able to put in some monster days, culminating in my biggest day yet of 17.6 miles. My backpack was weighed at Uncle Johnny's before I left Erwin, and finally, I was less than 40lbs, coming in at 37 with 1.5 liters of water. What a relief!!! The first day it drizzled and drizzled, and finally turned cold. I camped at Low Gap, and awoke to a damp, cold tent. The next day, Easter Sunday, I ran across a sign taped to a tree announcing Trail Magic was to be held at Hughes Gap starting at 10AM and running for several hours. Unfortunately, I was still 9.2 miles from that gap at 10AM. I felt I would surely miss the magic, but what a motivator the thought turned out to be. I rushed at max speed the entire way, including Little Rock Knob which had a killer last 200ft, pretty much straight up. Exhausted, I arrived at Hughes Gap too late, and sat to have my usual lunch. I had about 1.5 miles and 1300 ft. to go to my planned stop, Ash Gap. Thankfully the climb was steady, not too steep, and I made it up rapidly. I arrived at 1630, to a beautiful area full of flats and plenty of room for my campsite and for Gramps and Grams and friends as well. It was a sunny, warm afternoon, and I felt for the first time that I had arrived on the AT Hike I had dreamed of. I put a line, hung all my damp gear up and let it dry while I had supper. After visiting the other campers with my hot chocolate, I built a fire and sat down to write. One little hiccup, a piece of hot ash flew into my tent and burned a small hole in my air mattress. I, of course, did not figure that out until I turned in at about 830. As the sun went down, the cold returned! I couldn't find the leak, so resigned myself to sleeping on the ground for the night. I had forgotten how much insulation a mattress provides, and soon found myself shivering from the ground coldness. I put on my warm clothes and tried to sleep again, but was not very successful. About midnight, I decided to look for the hole again, got lucky and found it, an spent about 30minutes patching it. It worked!!! and a night of decent sleep followed! The third day was spent crossing the Roan Mountain Highlands, and started with a 1000ft climb, to 6200ft. It was a beautiful day, and with rain and cold forecast the tomorrow, I hustled to finish. There were lots of climbs and multiple balds to traverse, and overall was a very good day. After the last climb, up Hump Mountain, I had 5miles and 2000 ft to lose, and hoped for smooth and not so steep trail. I got pretty much the worst trail yet for at least 60% of the descent, with roots and rocks, but at least it was dry. I hyperextended my poor left knee on an unseen rock, but was able to keep going. It seemed to take forever to get to the highway in Elk Park, but I finally made it, called Ann at the B&B and was picked up 20minutes later. She dropped me off at the Dairy Barn? and lo and behold, there were Salty Hat and Noname, I Believe, Owlbear and two other hikers from the Hostel. I had the Holy Cow, a ridiculous burger of about 3000cal, and nearly ate the whole thing!!