Date: 2015-04-30
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Mountain Harbor B&B
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I legitimately froze last night. My breath was showing from the time I got to camp until I left 6000 feet. My sleeping bag is awesome though. It's so ridiculously hard to get out of it in the morning when it's cold and you can hear the wind howling overhead.Once I got up and moving I was fine though. The mile and a half down to Carvers Gap came and went quickly and the first thing I saw when I popped out of the woods were Moosehead and Hobble getting out of Hobble's Dad's truck. Moosehead was quick to ask what I had for dinner and was quicker to let me know he had enjoyed hibachi and a warm bed. Mashed potatoes and spam never sounded so terrible.We all headed up Round Bald and onto Jane Bald, an amazing start to the morning. Seriously, if there's a better place to hike in the Southern U.S. I'd like to know about it. I just can't imagine a more awe-inspring trail.Moosehead stayed behind and I walked with Hobble for a while. It's really the first time him and I have hiked together and we had an interesting conversation. We separated around Stan Murray Shelter since he had to get some big miles in before a wedding on Saturday.Around 10:45 I got to what is widely considered the most famous shelter on the AT, Overmountain (AKA The Barn). I had been planning to have lunch before heading towards Little Hump Mountain but Moosehead showed up and we agreed that we needed to spend more time there. The shelter itself sits right above a valley and the views can't be beat. We stayed for a couple hours before reluctantly heading out.As I climbed up the ridge I could see clouds forming in the distance. When I hit the actual ridge I heard thunder. With nowhere to hide since there were no trees I hurried up and down Little Hump. I ducked into the saddle which did have trees and was soon greeted with a hailstorm. Not a big deal except that I need to go back to the clearing to make the 600 foot climb up Hump Mountain.Right when I exited the hail stopped and the rain tapered off. I waited on Moosehead and we climbed up together. Climbing up Big Hump is something everyone should do. It literally looks straight out of Scotland. The sun even came out as we got higher up. I love Roan, can't you tell? We had a nice laugh about that mountain being our office. What a life.The descent down was about 5 miles punctuated by Doll Flats about 2 miles in. This is where I sadly left North Carolina for the last time. Two states down.Moosehead had said he wanted to camp there and when I showed up he said he found the perfect spot under a rock. When I tell you this rock looked straight out of a Road Runner cartoon I'm not lying. I told him to prop the rock up with his trekking pole and generally teased him until the rain started and I knew I didn't want to stay there.I hustled down to US 19E and walked down to check on the hostel at Mountain Harbor. My feet were in a bad way and it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight. By the time I got here the hostel was booked and the rooms in the house were quite expensive. An Australian guy named Wanjana was around and in the same predicament. We had been flip-flopping over the last couple of days and decided to split the cost of the room.It's been a wise choice. It's cold and raining out there and I've been eating cookies, taking showers, drinking hot chocolate and getting ready for the reputed best breakfast on the trail. Mary even did our laundry. She's awesome. Icefire is here as well and he's zeroing tomorrow to celebrate his 59th birthday. So, I'll eat breakfast at 8:00 and head back to the trail. Not sure where I'm heading but it's only 27.4 miles to my next resupply in Hampton, TN. Should be there Saturday morning then make the final push to Virginia, 44 miles further.Have I mentioned how great Roan was? Seriously, take a weekend and go. I'm not kidding.