Date: 2006-04-19
From: N of Greasy Creek Gap, Tn

To: Bradley Gap, Tn
Miles today: 16.2

35,968 foot steps today I slept really well last night on the soft leaves that I set my tent up on. I woke up at 5:30 this morning and saw flashes of lightening off in the distance. I wasn't ready to get up yet, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. It wasn't long before the thunder got close and it started raining hard. I continued to lay there in my sleeping bag with no intentions of getting up anytime soon. It just kept on thundering all around me and raining. Finally, about 9:30am, I could feel a slight caffeine headache starting, so I stuck my stove out the tent door and brewed some coffee. I had originally planned on being at Rt 19E this afternoon. It is 22.5 miles from where I'm tented at.I can see that there is no way I'm going to make that today, so I started figuring out how much food I had and if there was enough to last for 2 days. I have just enough denatured alcohol to make coffee tomorrow morning and I rationed my fruit pies.I had one this morning and some chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.That will leave a fruit pie and some more cookies for breakfast for tomorrow. I don't really have much for dinner tonight, but I don't usually eat a lot at night on the trail anyway. I'll have some jerky and a small bag of Frito's for dinner. It's now 10:30am and there is still no signs of the weather letting up, so I'm going back to sleep for a while. :-))) It finally stopped raining and thundering, so I packed up and started walking at 11:35am. About 10 minutes after I started walking, I saw a deer, then shortly after that, I saw another one.That reminds me that I had a deer near my tent last night and he was blowing at something and running down below where I was tenting at. I walked by the side trail to Clyde Smith Shelter without stopping. I was in pretty heavy fog while I was climbing Little Rock Knob. That made it just a bit harder to breathe on the uphills. When I got to the summit of Little Rock Knob, the sky had cleared and the fog left.I stopped and took a few pictures because it was beautiful out since the weather cleared out the haze.There were clouds laying in the lower valleys. Walking down from Little Rock Knob, I saw 4 more deer. It's great to finally see some wildlife out here. I walked down to Hughes Gap, then started the long climb up Roan Mtn.I ran into a couple that looked familiar going the other way. It turns out the were Shades Of Blue and I had run into them in Maine one year. I caught up to Red Baron just before I got to Ash Gap. I kept climbing and eventually got to the summit of Roan Mtn. The spruce always smalls so good at these higher elevation. I was over 6,200 feet high. I passed by the side trail to Roan High Knob Shelter without stopping. I was walking through a small river of water in the trail from all the rain. I did my best to stay out of the mud, but it was hard. :-))) I walked down to Carver's Gap and filled up my water bottles from the nice spring and then got rid of my garbage in a can that's in the parking area. I climbed up to Round Bald, then passed by the trail to Grassy Ridge.Hey Grassy Ridge, I always think of you when I walk by this area.She got her trail name by walking up to Grassy Ridge when she missed the turn on the AT. :-))) I kept walking and when I got to Stan Murray Shelter, I stopped and signed the register before heading on. I passed by the side trail to Overmountain Shelter without stopping.I had thought about getting water there, but decided to wait for a while, so I didn't have to carry it up Little Hump. I climbed over Little Hump and had some beautiful views. I really wanted to keep going over Hump Mtn since it was so nice out, but decided to stay in Bradley Gap tonight.I had always wanted to stay here, but it never worked out before. I got water from a nice spring, then set up my tent when I found a suitable spot.I ate my dinner and will tackle Hump Mtn in the morning. Sure hope I have good weather.