Date: 2018-05-11
From: Green Corner Road Near Standing Bear

To: Roan Mountain, TN - Mountain Harbour Hostel
Miles today: 153.7

Over the last two weeks, Greenie and I hiked one of the more magnificent sections we have done to date. We completed between Standing Bear and Roan Mountain and knocked one more state off of the AT list. We are inching closer to having the entire trail under our feet and expect to finish next year.Travel from Boston to Hot Springs was uneventful. Both our gear and Greenie and I arrived in Asheville on time and together (whereas the opposite happened on our return trip), Matt from Elmer's was waiting for us when we arrived and we were at Elmer's in no time.Elmer's as a place to stay is showing it's age, and if they are going to keep the place running over time they are going to have to put some money into the place. While the accommodations are relatively clean, the physical structure and infrastructure needs extensive work. The rooms, while comfortable, are in dire need of paint and plaster work. We did not partake in any of the infamous meals while there. But we did hear from those that did that the food was extraordinary. We instead ate at the Iron Horse and the Smokey Mountain Diner, both great choices.We arrived too late to mail our bounce box to our finishing point, so Matt mailed it for us after dropping us off at Green Corner Road near Standing Bear on Friday Morning.Friday coming NOBO out of Green Corner road was a climbing day. Our goal was Hawks Roost, but we opted to camp off of the Rube Rock Trail where we found a great spot to tent that was level and well off of the AT.Saturday was a perfect day for hiking - both cool and dry. We crossed Max Patch in the morning at about 10:00 AM, finding both trail magic before our climb consisting of candy bars and bananas and hikers still in their tents camped on the shoulder of the ridge line. Max Patch was spectacular - and even with a stiff wind blowing we felt like we were in magic land. We camped at Walnut Mountain shelter that night. Not a bad place to camp but it was really windy and we woke on Sunday morning to 33 degree temps. I was glad I opted to bring my warmer sleeping bag!Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the shelter to get out of the cold winds. One hiker who spent the night there woke to find Ramen noodles in his boots - and had no idea how it got there as no one in the shelter had Ramen with them. Here we met "Pensioner" for the first of many times on this hike.We connected with our friend "Sunkist" at Garenflo Gap at about 11:00 AM. She was to hike the balance of the trip with us, but opted to get off of the trial in Erwin. We all walked back into Hot Springs around 2:00 PM and headed to Elmer's where we cleaned up and would spend the night. Monday AM we were up and out of Hot Springs at 7:40 AM after doing breakfast at the Smokey Mountain Diner and squaring off with Elmer. The hike up from the French Broad River was steep, but had some wonderful views. Weather today was a "10", but a tad warmer and more humid than previous days. Our destination was Log Cabin Drive and the Hemlock Hollow cabins. We walked out of Hot Springs with only our food for the day, and would have a food drop at Hemlock Hollow with four days of food which would carry us over til Erwin and Uncle Johnnies. The excitement of the day was stopping off at an old Mom and Pop General store at TN 70 where Greenie and I each bought and devoured two "Big Boy" ice cream sandwiches! We finished at Log Cabin Drive at 4:15, but waited for the shuttle to pick us up at 5:00 since we thought we would take longer to reach the meeting spot. We had Pizza and sodas for dinner at Hemlock Hollow, and the cabin and facility was clean and well maintained. Too bad the lady running it had lost her help that day and was trying to run the place by herself. It is only her second season and does not have things down as pat as someone more seasoned. She even had a slack packer whose pack got taken by accident to another hostel and she had to drive two hours to retrieve it. Too bad, and I hope she figures things out and gets some good help.The following four days we worked our way north to Erwin and Uncle Johnnies. Highpoints include the views at White Rock Cliffs, Black Stack Cliffs and lunch at "Howards Spot" near the memorial plaque. Deb found out when she was setting camp for the night at Jerry's Cabin Shelter, that her sleeping pad would not hold air. We tried to repair it but to no avail. Wednesday was a hot one and I got smoked by the heat. We got some well timed trail magic at the crossing of TN352/NC 212 in the form of soda and banana's. We keep hitting a large (and loud) bubble of thru hikers - it is amazing to me that these folks have not figured out some trail manners by this point in their hike. We pushed 13 miles on Thursday and Friday to get into Erwin early Friday afternoon and avoid weather coming in on Saturday.We took a zero on Saturday - which was nice, but Sunkist opted to get off of the trail that day which was a bummer. She had been away from home for an extended time period leading up to this trip, and wanted to go home to see her Husband and family.We Slackpacked on Sunday from Beauty Spot SOBO back to Erwin and hit the trail NOBO starting at Beauty Spot on Monday with the objective of reaching Roan Mountain TN at Highway 19E and Mountain Harbour by Wednesday. This was a beautiful section of trail with passing through what felt like an "enchanted forest" on the way up to Roan High Knob, More amazing balds including Round Bald and Hump Mountain. We spent our last night on the trail at the Overmountain shelter which was crowded and on the loud side with that same group of hikers we had been trying to work around, but wanting to keep our gear dry for the trip home caused us to sleep in the shelter Vs tenting (would have preferred tenting). We walked into Mountain Harbour with Pensioner around noon on Wednesday - which left plenty of time to shower and do laundry. Mountain Harbour was a wonderful place to stay - good food, clean and well run. We will start our fall hike from there as well.Overall this was a fantastic section hike with unique things to see along the way and a largely well graded and maintained trail. Although I have heard how great this section was from friends that have been here before me, I have to say myself that the Carolina Balds are spectacular and fall under the AT must see list. We saw all of the balds we crossed in good weather, which unto itself is amazing. The trails were are well maintained and I have to give a "hats-off" to the trail maintainers for the fantastic stone work in many areas along this section of trails.We will be back this way in the fall to continue our journey north to Pearisburg VA. We have 246 miles left to finish the south which will only leave us ~118 miles from Monson to Katahdin - the end is growing near - something I look forward to with mixed emotions.