Date: 2007-05-16
From: Roan High Knob

To: Apple House Shelter
Miles today: 14.7

Brrr!! It sure is cold waking up at 6200'. I'm glad I didn't send home the long underwear yet. I set out today in a coat, long pants and a hat.I only had a little less then 2 miles to go this morning before meeting up with Nicole and Lisa in Carvers Gap. We had pre-planned to meet for a few hours on their trip back to N.Y.I arrived down in the gap a little early and they pulled up within a few minutes. They got out of the car armed with a can of Lysol and anti-bacterial wipes. Nicole put her hand out and said "don't touch me". I was offended!! I had even taken a spit bath to make myself semi- tolerable. It turns out the Lysol was for the car BEFORE I got in it! Nicole was sick with Strep Throat and they didn't want me to get it. Or maybe that was an excuse not to have to touch me I was originally thinking we could hike up Round Bald, which has some great vistas. But since Nicole was feeling lousy we settled for going into town for lunch. Such a sacrifice on my part, a hot meal vs. climbing a mountain I already have to climb.They showed up with 5 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a couple containers of coffee and Sodas. I ate half a dozen on the 15-20 min. ride to the restaurant! The waitress asked "breakfast or lunch?" as she grabbed the menus. I simply said "both". I had eggs and sausage with a chili-cheeseburger on the side! Oh yeah, I cant forget the appetizer... fried cheese sticks. I think I had some of Nicole's omelet (before she touched it!), and Lisa's fries. We dropped doughnuts off at one of the hostels just off the trail. There were a couple of hikers there and more would be coming in. I kept some for myself, and a few extras in case I felt like sharing.As we drove back toward the trailhead it started to rain. Although it was great to see them, it is hard when family and friends come to visit because it makes me homesick. But it worse to hike off in the woods, in 40-degree temps, in the rain, knowing you could be riding off in a nice warm car! What was I thinking?? So off I went, climbing up into the rain, wind and fog. That is how the next 5 hours went. Most of the hike today was climbing up and crossing over exposed balds. The wind and rain were brutal, I couldn't even look up. It wouldn't have mattered; the fog was so heavy there were no views. I had a very difficult just following the trail. Every now and then the trail would go through a wooded area and I would get out of the wind. I don't mind the rain, but the wind makes it so much colder. At one point, up on one of the open areas, there was a large rock. I went and tucked down beside it, just to get out of the wind for a minute. My fingers were pruned and numb from so many hours of the pelting rain.The side trail leading down to Overmountain Shelter was .6 miles roundtrip. I had no reason to go down there other then curiosity. I have seen some many pictures and heard people talk about, so I felt the need to check it out. It is a huge red barn that has been made into a shelter. What is most amazing is the views from it. I talked for a while with some guys section hiking as well as a mother and daughter staying at the shelter. I shared some of my doughnuts and moved on. Wouldn't you know the 45 minutes it stopped raining was while I was in the shelter!   The trail went back up about 1000' onto the exposed Little Hump Mountain at 5500' and then dropped into Bradley Gap, just to climb back up onto Hump Mountain.It finally stopped raining around 7pm and I hiked another 2 hours until dark. Even as miserable as the rain was I still enjoyed my hike today. When I arrived at the shelter, there were several journal entries about the wonderful doughnuts from the doughnut fairies. Somehow one of the boxes made into the shelter! (I will have to investigate that one) I had already had my share, so I wasn't too disappointed that they were already gone by the time I arrived.