Date: 2016-06-15
To: Third annual birthday on the AT for Dr. Suuz
Miles today: 0.0

Spring after Hughes Gap Road to Overmountain ShelterThanks to last night's rain we wake to thick fog at pre-dawn. We use our headlamps to find clothes and gear in the tent. Once dressed, X must plow through a thicket of soggy nettles to retrieve our food bags. She's happy to find them both hanging, unmolested, from the branch where she left them last night. Except for evicting several large snails who've climbed our 3-liter canteen overnight, breakfast is uneventful, and we begin the long, steep climb up Roan Mountain in the fog. After four miles and almost 2,000 feet elevation gain, we reach the remnants of the Cloudland Hotel, a 19th century resort, now reduced to a solitary chimney where a cabin once stood and a grassy meadow which Guthook¢s AT app says has ¢fine views.¢ Those views are shrouded in dense fog this morning. We can barely make out figures along the meadow edges--humans with tripod-like equipment. It takes a moment to recognize they are painters with easels, and Suuz wonders if they¢re painting fogscapes or waiting for the fine views to emerge. We continue another half mile and take a blue-blazed side trail to the Roan High Knob Shelter. X remembers taking refuge on the second floor of this log cabin on a cold, rainy night during the Troverts¢ thru hike. She wants Suuz to see the highest shelter on the AT, and Suuz is happy to take a break at 6,250 feet. Revived by the snack and a brief rest, we're ready to continue the trek downward to Carver¢s Gap. The fog has cleared, and the view of Round Bald bedecked with purple rhododendrons and orange flame azaleas in full bloom is spectacular. When the Troverts passed through here in 2012, they could barely see their hands in front of their faces due to persistent bad weather. X is amazed today, and we take many pictures. Looking back at the visitor parking area, we think we see a trash container. X goes back to find out if we might be able to leave four days worth of trash behind, but soon signals that it¢s not a trash can. Suuz, waiting with our packs, strikes up a conversation with a family just returning from a morning hike. When she discovers they are on their way back to a local cabin, she asks if they would mind taking our trash with them. They¢re happy to help--trail magic which lightened our load a bit. We cross Jane Bald, with more flower photo-ops, and stop for lunch on large rocks at the top. X spreads our wet tent on rocks to dry while we eat and enjoy the view. We¢ve been keeping our eye on dark clouds on the horizon and feel the first raindrops as we take the last bites of lunch. The tent gets stowed, we put our pack covers on and hike downward in light rain. We¢ve been joined by Marcos and are entertained during the rest of the afternoon¢s hike with his tales of life on The Farm in the 70¢s and being co-captain of the Wesleyan University Track team with Bill Rodgers, the runner who won four consecutive Boston Marathons. Time flies as do the next three miles downhill to the Stan Murray Shelter where we take a snack break and meet Short Haul, a section hiker who completed all the miles on the AT last year. The rain has stopped by the time we start the gentle two miles down to Overmountain Shelter. Suuz spots a large owl swooping across the trail. It lands in a tall tree close enough for us to see that is¢s a Barred Owl as it rotates its head from side to side. We reach the Overmountain Shelter, a rustic red barn repurposed as an AT shelter, by late afternoon. Suuz collects water from the stream nearby, pleased when she¢s able to fashion a leaf trough to channel water into the spout of the collection bags. After drinking water is filtered and camp set up, we head to the picnic tables under a roof at one side of the barn. We meet Zeroni, a recent college graduate, and his dog Lady, and are later joined by Marcos and Serenity, a section hiker from Georgia who we met briefly at Curley Maple Gap Shelter two nights ago. A young couple who¢ve been in the barn¢s loft with a crying baby since we arrive pass through as they head home after deciding not to spend another night at the shelter. While she¢s cooking dinner, X breaks out the half-liter box of wine she¢s packed for the last four days so we can celebrate Suuz¢s birthday. We share it with the other three hikers at the table and enjoy a delicious birthday dinner. Dessert is a one-pound bag of M&M peanuts--also shared round the table. Suuz says X is a grand friend for packing the extra weight of wine and M&M¢s all this way for her third consecutive AT birthday party. From the meadow where our tents are pitched, we watch light and shadows play on the mountains and valleys below. Frendy and Piper, a mother and daughter who¢ve hiked occasionally on the AT for the past 15 years, are enjoying the view from their tent site near ours. It¢s been a great day on the AT. There¢s light rain in the night, but when X makes a nature call, she has a spectacular view of the campground and surrounding mountains lit up by millions of fireflies--birthday candles of the highest order.Dr. Suuz and X