Date: 2009-05-18
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Wow, last night was absolutely freezing and completely unexpected. Several people had their water frozen and were dancing around camp in the morning trying to stay warm. Today was the first morning that I was trying out my Polar Pure, or iodine crystals in a bottle, that I had picked up in Damascus while at Trail Days. The Platypus Cleanstream worked really well, but I thought that I could cut back on about 12 oz. of weight just by utilizing this simple switch. There will be chemicals going into my body, but as long as it is for the short term, then I¢m okay with this. I was on the trail by 9 am and was looking forward to attacking the steep and fabled Roan Mountain. This was the last mountain over 6,000 ft. until we arrived at Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. It has been said that it is arguably the coldest year-round spot on the AT in the southern states. I was truly surprised at how cold it was today ¢ even in the mid-afternoon sun. I constantly had to put on/take off layers in an attempt to adjust to the outside temperature. Although it was a bit of a tough climb, Roan wasn¢t as tough as I had initially thought it was made out to be. Leading up to the shelter, there were parts of the trail that had seriously turned into the Appalachian Stream. There was a good 2 inches of stream running across the trail at all times. On the way up, I also ran into Frankenfoot, who was out slack-packing with his little dog. He and his wife ended up slackpacking over the weekend, as he opted not to go to Trail Days. He¢s a few days ahead now, but we¢re hoping to be able to catch up sometime soon. One thing that I haven¢t written about in my journal is the fact that so many people are dropping out. One guy had his down winter jacket made into a small mice nest and he, ultimately, just got sick of the trail. I¢m not sure about percentages, but I¢m guessing that something like 35% are now off the trail. This will be a subject that will come up in further journaling, as it¢s important to recognize and laud the people that stick it out and keep going. It¢s also important to recognize and respect the people who went for it, only to realize that the AT was not their cup of tea. Anyway, as I descended down Roan Mountain, stopping at Carver¢s Gap, I headed over to the main sign and spoke with a few of the old boys who were helping out with the trail maintenance. Several of them had done the AT on multiple occasions and they were all trying to impress me with their stories. I just listened attentively, as they were quite interesting. Fortunately, they were able to take my trash, as I was carrying a heavy duty knock-off Nyquil bottle for my chest cold. On the next grassy bald, I saw many hikers taking part in trail maintenance, also known as ¢Hardcore¢. Bob Peoples from the Kincora Hostel had 150 people helping out this year. It¢s truly great to see so many people willing to donate their time and energy for such a good cause. Although it was cold due to the wind, I ended up taking my shirt off and relaxing at one of the knobs overlooking the mountain range in the distance. It was just so beautiful! I¢m sure that at least an hour went by and, when I awoke, I had to scrape myself off the rock and prepare myself to get moving again. The rest of the trail to the Overmountain Shelter was fairly easy terrain and largely downhill. The shelter, itself, is close to the spot where Patriots from Tennessee and North Carolina fought off a tough group of British loyalists in a bloody battle of the Revolutionary War. The ragtag militiamen from the mountains, using their own weapons and ammunition, fueled by their own pride for what was to become the United States of America, fought and won a decisive battle for the newly emerging colonies. In modern times, the barn was also the filming site of the movie: ¢Winter People¢. I heard some excellent stories about how this shelter is a beautiful barn and yields some amazing sunrise views. Well, the barn is amazing, but I haven¢t yet woken up for the sunrise. Frankenfoot told me that meteorologists are calling for an all-time low tonight and it surely feels like the prediction will be realized soon enough. Scavenger, Scree, and I tried to build a fire just outside of the barn, but there was so much cold wind coming through and a lack of wood, that we were not able to get it going. This is why I¢m in my sleeping bag bracing myself for the cold and preparing myself for what I hope to be will be a good night¢s sleep. We¢ll probably pull a 16-mile day, stay at the Kincora Hostel on Wednesday and then we¢ll go for two large days heading into Damascus, VA. It¢s going to be another great day of hiking tomorrow. I¢m so glad that I¢m out here!