Date: 2008-02-11
From: Greasy Creek Friendly Hostel, NC

To: Near Stan Murray Shelter, TN
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

I slept well last night and didn't wake up till 7am when I heard CeeCee moving around out in the kitchen.I got up and took my Starbucks out there for her to use for my coffee.She said the pipes were frozen and she didn't have any running water, but she had a 5 gallon water cooler with plenty of water. :-)She made me a whole pot of Starbucks all for myself because she doesn't drink coffee.She has a real wood stove that she uses for heat inside the house...and that's what she cooked my breakfast on.I had four scrambled eggs, four strips of bacon, two hashbrowns, a fruit bowl with whipped topping and some toast. I love breakfast! :-)I got packed up and thanked CeeCee, paid her, then left at 10:10am.It's a .6 mile walk uphill to get back to the trail. I got to the AT and started walking north at 10:30am.There was no wind and nice blue skies when I started, but that changed later.I walked past the sidetrail to Clyde Smith Shelter without stopping.I was climbing the last bit of the 900 ft elevation gain to Little Rock Knob when I ran into two Trail maintainers who were out day hiking to see how many trees got blown over in yesterday's high winds.We talked a short while, then I continued on up towards the top of Little Rock Knob.I found data service near the top, so I sat down and sent in yesterday's journal entry and more pictures.I surprisingly had cell service at the hostel last night, but no data service, so I couldn't send in anything from there.The climb up to Little Rock Knob was the steepest climb I've had in a while.I was coming down off Little Rock Knob and looked through the leafless trees and could see Hump Mtn.That's one of my favorite mountains on all the AT!I got down to Hughes Gap and there were about 7 or 8 dayhikers there getting ready to leave.One of the guys said his son just finished a sobo thru hike in December. His trailname was Farsang.I have seen his name in some of the registers.I started the long climb of about 2,300ft up Roan Mtn.The winds picked up and it got cloudy out. They were blowing probably 20mph...just enough to make my nose feel cold.The temperature was right around freezing at the time.I kept climbing and eventually got to Ash Gap...a welcome little gap to give the ol' legs a break from the steep climb.Everywhere there was water flowing in the Trail was all solid glazed ice at this elevation.I continued climbing Roan Mtn and got to the top of the first peak.There were lots of places where the Trail had frozen water for 100 to 200 ft. I was able to find just enough aggregate sticking up through the ice to get good footing.I walked down to the gap in between the two peaks, then up to the top of Roan Mtn.I passed by the sidetrail to Roan High Knob Shelter, but didn't stop. That the highest elevation for any shelter on all the AT at 6,275 ft high.I walked down to Carver's Gap....having to walk around or over lots of solid ice in the Trail.It was a chilly walk too because it was completely in the shade.The sun was popping out again, but the winds had picked up to 25 to 30mph.I got to the gap and walked over to one of my favorite springs on the Trail. It really pumps out a lot of water from a pipe stuck in the ground.I drank about a liter of water and filled up both my water bottles. I had been planning on staying on Grassy Ridge tonight and wanted enough water for tonight and tomorrow morning.I climbed about 300 ft to an elevation of over 5,800 ft high to the summit of Round Bald.I took a picture of Grassy Ridge for a good Trail friend by the name of....Grassy Ridge.She got her name by Bob Peoples when he found out she took a wrong turn and ended up on Grassy Ridge...not a mountain that the AT goes over. :-)I always think back to when Underpants, Dr Dolittle, Rainbow Slick and Goosebump The Snow Princess and I walked through this area in the winter of '03.The high winds were blowing Goosebump The Snow Princess to where she couldn't stop until she just sat down in the snow.The wind had blown her about 25 or 30 ft and her husband just kept walking like he was going to let the Wind Gods have her. :-)I went over and helped her back to the Trail because she was worth saving. :-)I got up to Jane Bald next....another summit over 5,800 ft high.The views up in that area are awesome and I kept stopping to take pictures. I hope they aren't too blurry because the wind was whipping through there pretty good and moving my camera around.I decided not to tent on Grassy Ridge tonight because the wind was too strong.I kept walking on the AT when I got to the side trail to Grassy Ridge....maybe next time I'll get to tent up there.I walked through lots more icy spots and some steep washed out Trail for the next mile or so.I came all the way down to 5,000 ft elevation and set up my tent not too far away from Stan Murray Shelter.The wind was coming from all directions, but it wasn't nearly as strong here.I set up my tent and was blowing up my mat when I saw a dog and a backpacker walking south on the Trail.Turns out the backpacker did a nobo thru hike last year. His name is Lumpy and he said he just summitted Katahdin last November 2nd.He's out for a 400 mile walk to Springer.The dog was a stray that started walking with him about 20 miles ago.He set up in the shelter.It seemed strange to see another backpacker out here.I called and let Mary at the hostel at Rt 19E know that I was coming in tomorrow.Another great day on the Appalachian Trail! :-)