Date: 2009-05-15
From: Roan Mountain Shelter

To: US Route 19, Roan Mountain City
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: light rain

Today was an extraordinary day in a number of ways. We left the Roan Mtn shelter at 8:00 am, walking a steep downhill to Carver's Gap. From Carver's Gap there was a long hike along bald mountains, Round Bald, Jane's Bald, Little Hump Bald, and Hump Mountain. The weather was clear and the views were outstanding -- 360 degrees and all above 6,000 feet. It was very much like walking for miles and miles in wide open alpine fields, much like the one Julie Andrews sings about in "The Sound of Music". The only thing I know about the history of this area is that Jane's Bald was named after a woman who, when travelling to North Carolina to visit relatives, died on the Bald after drinking tainted milk. There used to be a large hotel on the bald in the late 19th century, but there is no sign of its existence any more.When hiking on Little Hump, we ran into a section hiker that already had set up camp. He was extremely talkative, and would have kept talking to us all day if we had been ammenable. This is a bit unusual, as most hikers are pleasant, but not overly communicative while in the midst of a day hike. Anyhow, on we went. As we got to Hump Mountain, around 2:20, we could see a massive, massive thunderstorm coming in. Within a few minutes, we were in the midst of a thunderstorm. We could see lightning above us, below us, and all around us. Several lightning strikes were uncomfortably close, particularly since Moonlight and I were carrying aluminum poles. We literally ran down the mountain, a distance of some 5 miles of steep downhill over rocks, bolders, and roots. While it was important to get down off the mountain and away from the lightning, we really destroyed our feet. We were going to stop at the next shelter, about 4 1/2 miles down the mountain. But at the shelter there were a bunch of local weekend hikers (we hadn't realized it was Friday). They were young and didn't understand the basic requirement to make space for incoming hikers when it is raining. We stood in the rain 3-4 minutes with the kids in the shelter just looking at us and not giving us an opportunity to get out of the rain, so we quickly moved on to a hostel at a highway less than a mile away. We got to the Mountain Harbor Hostel quickly but were told that the last bunk had just been taken. With enough whinning and looking sufficiently pathetic, they let us sleep on the floor of the hostel. Moonlight and I were at least dry and able to take showers, so we were happy. But then, another hiker named Lone Wolf came back from the gorcery store with enough food to feed the entire hostel!! He is a great chef and he made pasta with chicken and vegatables and garlic that was absolutely outstanding. And he made so much that I was able to get seconds, and thirds, and fourths, and fifths! I haven't eaten that much since I started hiking. We gratefully paid for most of the fixings, and considered ourselves fortunate. If anyone gets a chnce to eat Lone Wolf's cooking, count yourself fortunate.Following dinner we watched "City Slickers" and went to bed warm and well fed.Life is good.