Date: 2015-03-31
From: Campsite past Iron Mountain Gap 

To: Over the mountain shelter 
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up this morning to frost on the ground. I noticed it was a bit chilly last night but I managed to sleep decently. I packed up and had a quick breakfast and hit the trail before 830. I had slept till 730 because I got in so late the night before. I hiked nearly 4 miles and saw a sign for the greasy Creek hostel down a side trail. The side trail looked more like an old road that was in the later stages of going back to nature. The hostel was only 0.6 miles and I saw that it had full resupply options. I decided this was where I would resupply since it was so close to the trail. I started down the side trail and not long down I had passed many other side trails. It was confusing and alittle unnerving since I had no way to know where I was going. I stayed next to a healthy looking Creek and went all the way down. I soon passed a Strange wall with no trespassing signs all over it on my left. It was made out of scrap metal. I thought maybe I had wasted 30 mins going down hill but just at that moment I saw a couple buildings to my right and a large smiley face. I wandered down and the first building looked empty. I went on to the next one and saw some people inside. I opened the door and a dog came barking. I was still unsure I was at the right place. A lady that looked to be in her 50s or 60s came right up and greeted me. She was nice and had lots of things to say. There were some other hikers there and they were on their way out. Soon it was just me and the lady, I told her I was just there for resupply. She had a good selection of snacks and dinners. The Guidebook was right, she had everything a hiker would need for resupply. I asked if there was something I could buy to cook and she lit up and invited me to the kitchen. I had to change to my camp shoes before going into the rest of the house. In the kitchen she had a menu and some really good prices. It was about 1020 am so I got some eggs, Turkey bacon, hashbrowns, and 2 cups of coffee. It was great! I felt so much better after eating. I only had to buy a few candy bars as i seemed to have enough food to make it to Damascus. I decided to take a shower too, she had hot water. Before I left she told me her neighbor had been posting false notes about her hostel being closed or really high rates like $40 a night on the trees leading up to her hostel. Now I understood why it was so poorly marked on the way down, he had removed everything. I headed out around 12pm back to the AT. It was a little confusing getting back because of the numerous side trails that all looked the same but I found it eventually. I didn't stop again for over 4 miles. I stopped for lunch at a stream just before the climb to Roan mountain. I hydrated and ate a big meal. About 20 mins of sitting there a guy I hadn't seen since before hot springs came up, trail name Not Yet. It was good to see him, he was one of my favorite people so far. He had a really positive attitude and was easy to get along with. He was very surprised to see me. He had heard from others that I was putting down alot of miles and moving fast. I told him I had taken a zero back in Erwin and found out he hadn't stopped in hot springs. He was pretty stiff by this point. I knew how he felt. After setting out from there I began the long climb up Roan mountain. I didn't expect it to be as strenuous as it turned out to be. It was also covered in ice and snow in some parts which did not help. I was cursing the mountain by the time I got to the summit area. I had tripped so many times and sled all over the place. It was a pain going up and would be a pain going down. At the top there was a plaque thing explaining that a huge fancy hotel had been up here back in the late 1800s. All that was left now was a chimney and something else like a part of a floor. I left there and moved ahead expecting to see the Roan high knob shelter which would tell me how far id gone. I never saw this shelter and it was the longest 0.6 miles of my life. Turned out I passed it somewhere and I ended up at carver Gap instead which cheered me up. Carver Gap was 3 miles away. I climbed up to a bald that looked back at Roan and got some pics of it. The lady at the hostel said you could see Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. I could see i was surrounded by mountains but had no idea what any of them were except for Roan. I took some video and pictures then moved on. It was extremely windy and my t shirt wasn't doing much but I kept moving on. I passed a few balds and eventually went back into the woods and descended down to Stan Murray shelter. It was tiny and full. I never planned to stop there but I talked to 2 other thru hikers briefly before moving on. The rest of the hikers there looked like locals, I'm sure they'd be up late. It was less than 2 miles to the over the mountain shelter and it had a 20 person capacity. It was an old barn that had been renovated for Appalachian Trail hikers. I got there just at dark around 8pm. The shelter had Alot of hikers but nowhere near full. I climbed up to the loft and set my stuff up then went down and cooked my first dinner since Saturday night. It was really good. Earlier I had weighed myself at the hostel and I was now 150 lbs down from 164. I decided it was time to start eating more. Today had been long and tough over 20 miles again. Less than 100 to Virginia now!