Date: 2017-05-08
From: Clyde Smith Shelter 

To: Overmountain Shelter 
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

5/8Clyde Smith Shelter to Overmountain Shelter 16.3 milesTotal miles: 384.5Today was a day of contrasts. I woke up a little late and was not ready to leave camp until 7:40. Since I only planned on going the 8.5 miles to the shelter on Roan Mountain, this certainly didn't matter. The first six miles went very smoothly. Although the ascent up Roan was steep, the trail was smooth and well graded. The last two miles from Ash Gap to the summit more than made up for that. The AT showed what it can be over 6,000 feet. The trail was muddy, rocky, and very icy. The snow from the other day had become ice. The heavy spruce forest was very dark. I slowly made my way to the summit and visited the site of the Cloudland Hotel, which Sandy and I had visited thirty years before on our first trip to the area studying the railroad. My plan was to eat lunch there, but it was very cold and windy, so I continued on to the shelter.  The trail to the shelter was also very icy, and it was bitterly cold there. The shelter is built of logs and, unlike most shelters, is closed on all four sides.  It is actually a log cabin. Monty, Jose, and I ate lunch there, but it was so cold we could see our breath. I decided to move on to lower and warmer places. Several miles of the trail leaving the shelter were on the old coach road that ran from the town of Roan Mountain to the  Cloudland. What a ride those folks must have had. It was very rocky, rough, and curving. As we lost altitude, the snow disappeared and it became warmer. We then reached Carvers Gap, and it was like we were on another world. The sun was shining, and the trail that led up to Round Bald was four feet wide and paved in chat. The views from the bald were spectacular.  Dozens of people were on the bald, including a young woman doing yoga for a photographer with the mountains in the background. It was amazing that such different conditions existed within just 1.5 miles of each other. The trail that led to Jane Bald was quite a bit rougher, and there were far fewer people enjoying those views.  I hiked across the balds with Dutch.  This is the second time we've hiked together.  He is very thoughtful and insightful, and I very much enjoy hiking with him.  The last bald, Grassy Ridge Bald, required an extra half mile side hike off of the AT, and I had that summit all to myself. At the top of the bald, with the wind literally hissing through the trees below, away from even the beaten path of the AT, I set a bit of Beau free. I think he would have liked that.  The trail to Overmountain Shelter  was not difficult, and I arrived a bit after six. The shelter is converted from a large, old barn and could easily sleep over 30 hikers. I set up tent up in the grassy area near the barn and shared a campfire and dinner with Monty, Jose, Nathan, Legs, and several other hikers. I have a 9.2 mile hike tomorrow to the Mountain Harbor Hiker Hostel near Elk Park, where I will resupply and probably stay the night. I plan on getting an early start in the morning.  Rain is in the forecast, and I hope I can beat it to the hostel.