Date: 2009-04-20
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: light rain

The three section hikers got up first and started chattering loudly! Bound was not pleased... We all got up and made breakfast in the fog and changed into our damp, cold clothes. Not So Crazy left first, followed by Hellbender, me, and Bound. I caught up to Hellbender by 9:00 and hiked in front of him for a bit. He saw a little waterfall and said, "Awww.." Then he promised us that he would sing the "Waterfalls" rap tonight around a campfire (provided that he had 3 lady back-up singers...). We saw a couple of ramps, and I finally got to pick one to try! I let Hellbender try it first, and then asked him to pick me one. By that time, Bound had caught up, and we were all back together! I ended up going ahead and got to the shelter at 12:26, finding Not So Crazy, Papa Doc, and St. Patty there! We were all headed for Roan Mountain today! I ate lunch and then Bound came in. She asked St. Patty if he had heard the weather forecast and he mumbled something about the S-word. ? Snow...! He continued to mumble and said that he had blocked it out because it was so bad... Bound and I looked wide-eyed at each other. We waited for Hellbender, but he never showed up, so I left him a note in the registry.    As my journey has progressed, I've been feeling more and more out of shape... The uphills are harder and I look forward to the downs more than ever. Georgia seems so long ago- youthful, energetic, and easy. Now, I feel old and slow... Why? How could this be?   On the way up Little Rock Knob, I let Bound go ahead of me. Once I reached the top and saw the view, I was reminded of why it is that we make all of these climbs! It was gorgeous! As we descended into Hughes gap, Bound said that we're going to pretend that the next 3 miles is the only hiking we have to do for the day (I tried this before!... It didn't work!). We passed a southbounder who asked us where we were headed. "Damascus!" Bound yelled out. She likes to play. He warned us that we were headed for something bad... "the steepest climb you'll face." I certainly hadn't expected that! (It seems that he passed this dire warning to every hiker he saw... "you better put it into low gear," he told Hellbender). I started up the green hill first and kept telling Bound she could pass me if I was too slow. Raindrops fell and we ignored them as it was sure to be a passing shower. But finally, we could ignore it no more, and stopped to put on our rain jackets and pack covers. Immediately afterwards, the rain stopped... But, of course...! We continued on, and upwards. About half-way into the climb, I told Bound I was ready for a snack, so we stopped for a few minutes. We continued on, and all of a sudden, it started hailing on us! I picked up the pace! Within minutes, I was drenched and cold and all I wanted to do was cover my legs. So I ran over to a tree and told Bound to go on while I put on my rain pants and gloves. The rest of the climb was no fun. I was cold, wet, and miserable. The top part of the climb was not as steep as I had thought it would be and I saw the blue blaze and sign to the shelter earlier than I had expected. As quickly as I could, I ascended the slippery, wet rocks and came to one of the only 4-sided shelters on the trail. It was definitely the highest shelter on the trail. It was a stone cabin with a wooden door and I felt like I had to knock to get in! I opened the door to find Bound, Papa Doc, and Not so Crazy inside the small room. "This is supposed to fit 16?" I asked. They pointed to the upstairs. Not So Crazy had already spread his stuff up there. We were all dripping wet and cold, and I did not want to go back out to get water, but figured I better do it now. Then Bound offered to get some for me! I was so grateful! This was the coldest and most miserable I had felt on this trip, and it took all of the energy and patience I had to undo the snaps on my gaiters. My fingers were so cold, that it probably took me a good 10 minutes just to do that... then it was time to try to untie my laces... I guess I could have asked for help, but thought I should do it on my own. I just kept breathing and trying to be patient, knowing that I would eventually get it. I climbed up the ladder to the loft and changed up there. I thought I would sleep up there, since all of our gear and clothing had made most of the downstairs floor wet, but it felt even colder upstairs! After Papa Doc had set up his sleeping bag downstairs, I decided I would do the same. I felt so bad for St. Patty, his dog Jack, and Hellbender, who were still out there. I was so uncomfortably cold that, for the first time on this trip, I questioned why I was out there, and did I really want to keep feeling this way? I hated Roan Mountain. These 6000 feet mountains certainly let us know who was really in charge! It was a whole other game. I got inside my sleeping bag and set everything I needed to cook dinner alongside of me. After I had cooked and eaten dinner, and had my last packet of hot chocolate, I felt like eating the rest of the contents of my food bag to make me feel better! There had been two nights so far on this trip where I was too cold and wet to brush my teeth or take out my contacts, and I thought this was another night were I deserved to do the same. Papa Doc turned on his weather radio so we could listen to the forecast (he had given us each a bag of freetos to put in our pasta dinners) and as we listened, Hellbender came in! He seemed perfectly fine! He was certainly in a better mood than I was. No hail had fallen on him. He said St. Patty had decided to camp at Ash Gap because Jack was struggling in the cold rain.    We wrote in our journals and then went to sleep. Bound and Hellbender planned on doing a very short day the next day so they could sleep at OverMountain shelter the following night (a converted red barn) and they looked forward to sleeping in. PapaDoc had reservations at Mountain Harbour Hostel, and anticipated a 16 mile day. A great breakfast, warmth, and a shower began to sound very appealing to me.....