Date: 2006-04-06
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Over Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: overcast clouds

The mileage may look short, but it was a long day. So long that we had to stop at this beautiful old barn of a shelter and chill out for the rest of the day.The shelter we stayed at last night was great. It had a door and kept us perfectly sheltered from the elements. Only problem was the door was old and creeky and everytime someone went out to go to the bathroom it woke everyone else up. At least once an hour you were up listening to that door. Then, poor Bushwacker woke up sick as a dog and went outside to get sick.When we woke up in the morning poor Bushwacker was talking about quitting and not being able to move. He looked incredibly sick. So, we all milled about packing up and trying to get cell phones to work so we could call Miss Janet to come rescue Bushwacker. No service... So we sent Bushwacker a mile and a half down the trail to the road with Pebbles, then carried his stuff down behind him.Once we finally got him down to Carvers Gap, Pebbles finally got a hold of Miss Janet and she was on her way to the rescue! All we had to do was wait an hour. So of course, the food bags came out and we all lined up against the parking lot fence and ate, explained ourselves to tourists and played puddle basketball. It was a good time for every one except for poor Bushwacker who curled up in a ball and fell asleep on the ground between us.But Miss Janet pulled through! And a long with her was Tofurky!   So we got two treats in one. We lost Bushwacker,but Miss Janet came to the rescue,and we gained Tofurky, who skipped a small section to meet and be able to hike with us. She will make it up later. However, she already did it anyway. Miss Janet is amazing and good ol' Bushwacker is in good hands.So at 12 noon we finally started our hike which was originally supposed to be 15 miles or something.. We were optimistic..and the hike was beautiful. We went over a few balds and enjoyed the gourgous views.But about 10 minutes before Over Mountain Shelter it began to rain, and by the time we got there we were in awe of how beautiful the spot and old farm house were. So we all decided what the hell. It was No Worries birthday and it was raining so we combined the two and made it our excuse to stay.Pebbles was the only one who decided to press on because she wanted to meet her boyfriend early on Saturday. We will see her again Saturday afternoon. But we were still bummed to see her go on, especially alone. So, the rest of us, No Worries, Little Bro, Stinky, Urangatan, Snake, Tofurky, Jebus, Swansons and I are here enjoying the day. We have amazing views right from our sleeping bags. The afternoon was perfect. Lots of eating and drinking and a nice fire and alot of random conversations. This is truly the life. We are hopin' for an awesome sunrise in the morning!I cannot believe that I am actually tired after all the hot chocolate, m and m's, gummy bears, lemonheads, koolaid and sour worms I have had. Oh no, where else would I be able to eat like that in the span of only a few hours...awesome..The ankle is doing all right, swollen and bruised but functioning. Nice 17 mile tomorrow to work it out. Forcast calls for rain, but we have a restaurant down the street from the trail we can stop at for lunch so we are all stoked for that. Another good day on the trail. Cold again. I miss the warm week we had. But life is good when you can sit in a sleeping bag, sip hot chocolate and look out onto a valley with balds and mountains rising around it.   We are so freakin' lucky.