Date: 2006-04-17
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: light rain

It's been way too long since I last wrote! To catch you up to speed, on 4/14 I pulled a marathon day, hiking 26.9 miles from Hogback Ridge Shelter to the Nolichuky River (Erwin, TN); on 4/15 I zeroed in Erwin, TN; on 4/16 (Easter) Jetwash and I hiked 16.4 miles from Erwin to Cherry Gap Shelter; and today we hiked 15.1 miles from Cherry Gap to Roan High Knob Shelter.I hadn't originally planned to do 26.9 miles 4/14, but I woke up that morning with a bad sore throat and all I could think about was getting some cough drops and OJ in town. So instead of 21 miles, followed by 6 miles into town the next day, I combined the two into my first marathon day! Hiking with a sore throat sucked so bad. It hurt to swallow, making it a chore to eat and drink. I was pretty miserable for a good chunk of the day, but there were some bright moments. The first was at Street Gap, where we hit some phenomenal trail magic. Bag O' Tricks from PA, and Limbo, Sandy and Redneck from OH had a top rate kitchen set up and were pumping out pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashed browns and more. They also had fresh oranges, which made my sore throat feel somewhat better. To top it off, these guys weren't trying to market anything (ie. religion) as many trail "magicians" do. Great guys!Later that day we climbed Big Bald, which we were able to see off in the distance that morning. The top was a meadow much like Max Patch and had some great views. At the very top there were remnants of a moat from when a man named David Greer lived there as a hermit (I guess he had a bad breakup). Apparently, he dug the moat to keep his livestock from running off. I guess they weren't so into the eremitic lifestyle!The last 6 miles of my marathon day got a bit scary. It started to get dark, so I had to bust out my headlamp. I was constantly scanning the trees for white blazes when I came across a pair of eyes about 30' away. They were pretty far off the ground and pretty far apart, which immediately made me think BEAR!!! The eyes and I stared at each other for a good minute, during which I felt like I was in that bear camp fire song (The other day, The other day...). I considered backing down the trail slowly, but before I did so, whatever it was ran off. The footsteps didn't sound graceful enough to be a deer, but not big enough to be a bear. When I told Jetwash about the incident the next day, he suggested it could have been a mountain lion. Sheesh! Regardless, I was scared out of my mind after that and didn't rest until I could see the lights of Erwin off in the distance.Erwin was quite beautiful at night. At one point I had a great view of the valley: the town all lit up, the Nolichuky River, and a train making its way slowly out of civilization and into the mountains. It was in that valley that the Battle of Red Banks took place in 1864. 400 Union soldiers of the 3rd Regiment NC Mounted Infantry surprised a similar sized Confederate unit and routed them. While the Confederates lost 73 men and a bunch more were captured, only 3 Union troops were injured and none killed. Both forces had been recruited locally, so you can imagine how the battle/war split families and friends.Since it was 10:15pm when I started making my way down the switchbacks into Erwin, I decided to find a place to camp out on the trail rather than go through the trouble of finding a hostel in town. I found a nice level spot and plopped down with my sleeping bag for some cowboy camping. The sky was clear and the moon was full - the perfect combination for cowboy camping! I quickly fell asleep, but around 2am I woke up to go to the bathroom and blow my nose. After taking care of the latter, I heard some strange hissing noises not 30' away. I was immediately overcome by fear, but it quickly turned to confusion as the hisses were followed up with the clinking of trekking poles. Then I remembered that Boulder, another thru-hiker had also been planning on hiking the 26.9 miles to the trailhead, although, unbeknownst to me, he didn't arrive until 1:00am. To him, me blowing my nose sounded like a wild cat, so he thought if he hissed at me and clinked his poles, I'd be scared off. He was half asleep, so I won't call his logic into question, but we were both relieved the other wasn't some predator. Furthermore, we both got a kick out of the fact we had unknowingly plopped down within 30' of one another (there wasn't exactly a campsite there). The following morning (4/15), Boulder and I packed up and walked the short distance to the road. We had to walk a mile or so up the road before we caught a ride into the center of Erwin, but we still rolled in before 8am.We ended up going to Miss Janet's Hostel, where Jetwash, Long Haul, Natty Bo and Hui all showed up later that day. I won't go into detail about Miss Janet's, but suffice it to say I didn't like the environment nor the way Miss Janet treated me. I got two stern talks from her about things she had no right to lecture me on. Needless to say, I was happy to boogie out of there with Jetwash Easter morning (4/16).Easter laid witness to gorgeous weather. We did lunch at Indian Grave Gap, where I spent an hour or so reading the Gospel of John. It was quite peaceful. From the Gap we headed up a bald known as the Beauty Spot. It's probably redundant to mention the view was incredibly beautiful haha! All in all, the day was a good one.Today, however, was a bit more daunting. We did less mileage, but climbed Roan Mountain (elevation 6,287'), an elevation gain of over 2,000 feet in 3 miles. Atop the mountain are the remains of the Cloudland Hotel, which was built in the 1880s by a former Union general and was considered a good place for some R&R. The hotel was right on the TN/NC border. Because it was legal to drink in one state but not the other, a line ran down the dining room table to let guests know on what side of the room they could drink! Rumor has it a sheriff was on hand to arrest anyone who crossed the line with their beverage! The hotel closed in 1910 and unfortunately I was only able to locate a 10'x20' section of the foundation. However, a little ways down the trail we came across a fireplace and chimney where a guest room once stood. We're staying tonight at the Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT, weighing in at 6,285'! This fully-enclosed shelter was at one time a fire warden's cabin and will make for a good night's sleep! Tomorrow will be an easier day, thankfully. 370.3 miles down, 1804.7 to go!Bear Can