Date: 2013-04-10
From: Greasy Creek Friendly

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

Well well well... What a spectacularly interesting and random day!! :D Did my first 'work for stay' and I must say that it was an experience! Had to dig up roots of dogweed for two hours in the heat! Got to play with hoes, shovels, rakes, and even water snakes all while singing 'Hakuna Matata'! Cee Cee is definitely a character of the trail with her highstrong motions and various stories and songs! Too much to write about it and some is even unwritten but that is okay because all these memories will last forever I truely hope everything work out for her with her mean-spirited neighbor and I sincerely look forward to seeing her in the future at Trail Days!!! 'These boots were made for hiking and that's just what they'll do!'"TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS" -CC GCF :D-----------------------------------------------------------It was a beautiful day; a day worthy of shorts and a tee. Of course, as usual, the whole day cannot stay as such!!! lol As I approached Roan Mountain, I thought about putting my gaiters on or pants because snow was knee deep and where there was no snow, it was ice with water flowing underneath. Unfortunately, my body is taking a beating out here. I fell and slipped on the ice and busted up my previously boogered up knee open. The trail was a sheet of ice with a stream of melted snow flowing calmly underneath. The tranquil sound was soothing as it was something I have never really seen before though I was exceptionally mesmorized!There was an old hotel there that is on the border of NC/TN border and at the time (1800s) it was illegal to drink in NC. Rumor had it that an officer would wait for patrons of the hotel to cross borders and then charge them for drinking alcohol. Kind of interesting!Approaching the shelter was intense... I was alone and had to ponder my next move... To go or not to go to the shelter... A very steep climb up a sheet of thick ice? And how will I get down in the morning?! Well, it was an adventure and Lord knows that adventures tickle my fancy and so I was persuaded me to enjoy an icy escapade! I swung from tree to tree as I hugged each tree tight while wondering why I did not grab the crampons from the hiker box in Erwin, TN, EsPeCiAlLy after I heard Roan Mtn was still icy.... Just as I made it up to the shelter with my mad Tarzan skills, I realized I was not the only one up there lol My skills were not as awesome as I perceived them to be - SHUCKS!! BUT, it is a neat shelter - four walls, a door, AND a second floor like an attic, so I was tickled (of course).OoOoOoOoOoOoOo two more gents, Marvin and Cosmic Charlie, came to the shelter. Cosmic Charlie, a mid-40s gent with more hair on his face than I have on my head... lol but the coolest person from Indiana I have ever met! He had the goods (potatoes and beer) and was sooooo excited to be talking to thru-hikers because he was extremely stoked about his father's A.T. stories! And Marvin, his padre, is a short man with many stories about his experiences hiking the A.T.! He was half the size of Cosmic Charlie but full of smiles and help!! Thank you for the beer and potatoes!!! :D