Date: 2004-04-04
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: scattered clouds

After spending the night at the Super 8 in Erwin (I shared a bed with Biscuit because I lost the straw pull - Slim had a nice big bed to himself) I headed over to Miss Janet's house to await the shuttle. She did the shuttle to points south first. This worked out good for me as I only planned to hike six miles to the first shelter. This leaves me at the base of Roan Mountain. I could hike further but I have little desire to sleep at Roan High Knob Shelter on a night that they are expecting to set new low temp records. This shelter at 4400 feet is almost 2000 feet lower and it is brutally cold here. Roan Shelter is the highest on the AT at 6285'. Anyway, I think that Biscuit, slim, and I are the only hikers who backpacked out of Erwin today. The weather reports did not generate much enthusiasm for sleeping out tonight. I expect we may see single digit temps here tonight or on Roan tomorrow morning. It will be a good test of my cold weather gear. On the ride to Iron Mountain Gap we stopped and picked up two packs of the big hot dogs and buns. We figured to be at the shelter early and would build a fire and treat whoever else was at the shelter to a fire roasted wennie. Nobody else showed up so we did like any other thru-hiker would do : we ate them all ourselves. Yes, five or six hot dogs each, with buns, and smothered with Jalapino Jack cheese. And a Mountain Dew that some trail angel left at Greasy Creek Gap. Eating them was the wise thing to do...one of the last warnings we received before heading out today was "you guys are crazy, you're going to freeze your weenies out there". Wrong! This is a beautiful night to be out here. While we were cooking our dogs (are they called dawgs or dowgs here?) we were treated to a beautiful sunset on one side and the full moon rising on the other. The sun turned bright red and quickly hid behind the mountains - taking what little warmth we had with it. We had to keep blowing on the fire to keep the flames from freezing. It is not easy to find downed wood under a foot of snow so we took Skunknocker and Janlightintheloafer's advice and cut down a few oak trees. They were right, living oak trees do burn for hours and new ones will grow back in a few hundred years. Almost melted the soda cans too. Thanks for all the great advice - you guys are at the top of my list.On a less serious note, I am looking forward to tomorrow's hike. The Roan Highlands are another of my favorite areas to hike. The views from the upcoming balds are amoung the best the AT has to offer. And while hiking in snow is tough, it certainly adds some beauty to the views. Right now the moonlight is shining off the snow outside the shelter. The wind is blowing through the trees causing them to make eerie sounds - they sound like voices calling to each other. All evening we kept looking up the hill to see who was coming in. It would be a creepy night to be here alone. I think I'm going to put my head inside the sleeping bag and hide..I mean get some sleep. Big day ahead tomorrow. Good night, LwopJust for the record, I did not cut down any trees. I did not burn my soda can. It just makes you feel good to get even once in a while...