Date: 2017-10-17
From: Overmountain shelter

To: Clyde Smith shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Cold does not really capture the nature of last night. It was not just cold but BONE-ASS cold.But my new enhanced sleep system passed the test... just. And since I still had an extra component -- I could have put up my tent and got inside that -- that I didn't need to deploy, I declared this a success. It had been tempting to sleep inside the barn on its mezzanine floor, which would have still been a fairly draughty affair because of gaps in the weatherboards, but having done so would have deprived me of the corresponding benefit of getting the sun first thing when it rose.We were already aware of the warming power of sunlight when the sun crept over the horizon and instantly warmed us as we sat in our sleeping bags, but just in case there was any shred of doubt, the frost on the roof was immediately melted and turned into a 10-minute deluge of drips from the side of the barn facing east. I'd never experienced anything like it.It still took a while to motivate ourselves to hike out, although the reward for doing so was to find that Bob Peoples had arrived to lead a trail crew here. They'd parked their cars outside the barn and were heading to the next shelter to do some remedial work.Although we didn't need any further proof about the overnight temperatures, the substantial frost feathers on the trailside vegetation provided a photogenic way to show just how cold it had been. Once again, the prospect of climbing a hill out of camp offered the appealing aspect of warming us up.Dirt went ahead early because she was meeting a college friend, Carlie, at the next bald. By the time we got there, the day had warmed up considerably, with clear blue skies and not a breath of wind, let alone the gales of yesterday. We enjoyed the chance to laze around in the sun with a gazillion day hikers who'd come up a mile from the road nearby.We followed their path down to the road crossing then climbed up the hill beyond to Roanoke High Point, the site of the highest shelter on the AT -- a repurposed fire tower cabin, and thankfully fully enclosed rather than three-sided -- and the first time the trail had been over 6000ft since the Presidential range way back in New Hampshire. It seemed like the Second Breakfast Club had got to here the previous day and their entries in the hut register made it clear how cold, wet and miserable their day had been. By leaving at lunchtime from Missy's home, it was just we had definitely dodged a bullet and the thought of tackling last night's temperatures with wet gear did not bear thinking about for long.The far side of Roan High Knob was another place where Bob Peoples was famous for his input. Nobos once knew of this as the "Roan groan" because the trail went straight up the ridge for a few thousand feet but now there were dozens of switchbacks, for which my knees were very grateful.In the process of this descent, I ran into a couple of apparent day hikers, Rambo and Flicker, who turned out to be sobo thru-hikers who'd changed their hike after 700 conventional miles and were doing self car support with two cars, allowing them to do 30-mile days with day packs. They were pretty much sick of the trail -- 30-mile days have that effect -- but they were also aiming to be done in 12 days. Twelve days! Better them than me -- I was happy we were aiming for a daily mileage of only a little over 14 miles to finish on November 11. Then later, I met another thru-hiker, a nobo flip flopper called F-stop, who was aiming to get to her starting point near Harpers Ferry before the winter weather really kicked in.All this took us down to the Hughes Gap road and then a grinding ascent up to Clyde Smith shelter for the night. We were concerned to see a lost and clearly starving hunting dog at the camp, and even less happy to find out that the others had seen it roll in human shit in the middle of the camping area. (Thanks, privy-less Tennessee AT shelters!)Team KRT is a very animal friendly group but the dog was shunned, albeit with an explanation about the reason... It blotted its copybook even further when it followed a hiker down to a spring, where it then rolled in the water source.There was another flip flopper there, an older guy called Vietnam Vet, who said he intended to look after the dog and make sure it returned to its owner. Later Goldilocks and Gnome, two sobo thru-hikers who'd been part of the mega sobo bubble in Damascus, rocked up to complete the crew at the shelter. We're at the same altitude as our shelter last night but the weather is much warmer, for which we are very grateful.Life is good.AT fact of the day: Dirt had hung back at the bald to chat to her friend for as long as possible, but this came at a cost when she was caught by dusk as she hiked the last few miles to camp. We'd started the habit of leaving a hiking pole, buff or cap to mark turnoffs so that those behind know we've gone off trail, but someone inadvertently brought in 2am's pole so she didn't have that hint. She walked a bonus mile before realising her mistake and turning around...