Date: 2005-04-11
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

Miles hiked today : 14.312.9 AT miles + 1.4 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 7:15 a.m. and was on the trail by 8:15 a.m. I knew that I had some big climbs ahead of me and the temperature was already in the low 70s, so I anticipated a hot day.First off was a 520 foot climb over 0.8 mile to Little Rock Knob, which wasn't so bad. After that was a 840 foot descent to Hughes Gap, at which I arrived at 10:00 a.m. Next up was a brutal 1,440 foot climb over 1.4 miles to the summit of Beartown Mountain. Very few switchbacks and the heat of the sun made this climb quite a challenge. I finally arrived at the summit at 11:30 a.m. only to begin another climb after a minor descent.The next climb was 810 feet up to Roan High Bluff, which is the last peak over 6,000 feet until New Hampshire. The climb wasn't so bad, especially since there was plenty of tree shade. I arrived at the summit at 12:30 p.m. and found a parking lot and some heavy machinery at work. Also present was a informational sign telling about the Cloudland hotel, which used to be a resort on Roan Mountain in the early 1900s. The hotel was built right on the NC/TN state line and had a line painted across the hotel floor so that patrons could tell where it was legal to drink alcoholic beverages. At the time, it was legal to drink in Tennessee, but not North Carolina, and legend tells of a sheriff who used to sit in the hotel, writing citations to anybody who crossed over the line with their drink.I moved on 0.7 mile to the Roan High Knob shelter, arriving at 1:00 p.m. Along this stretch was some remnant snow and ice. According to the register at Roan High Knob Shelter, there had been quite a bit of snow 7 days ago. Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest shelter along the entire AT and is built like a house. It was even possible to climb upstairs and go on the upstairs patio through a window. Also in the area were the remnants of a house foundation along with some stone steps. I stayed for a 90 minute lunch break before moving on.The rest of the afternoon was smooth sailing with relatively small ups and downs. The views from Round Bald and Jane Bald were great and at 4:15 p.m., I took a 0.8 mile round trip side trip to Grassy Ridge, which was a near 360 degree panorama at 6,200 feet. In the distance, I could count 10 layers of mountains, the last of which were very, very faint.Continuing on, I arrived at Stan Murray Shelter at 5:45 p.m., stopped for a 15 minute break, then pushed on for another 2.0 miles to Overmountain Shelter, arriving at 7:00 p.m. The shelter is a converted medium red barn and is named for the Overmountain men who fought and won a critical battle againt the British in revolutionary times. Noteworthy is the fact that they provided their own weapons and supplies without any additional support.As I walked up to the shelter, I immediately saw a mouse. It wasn't very shy and I was able to get a very close picture of it. With that, I pitched my tent far away from the shelter, despite the predictions of rain tonight. I'd rather pack my gear in the rain than sleep uncomfortably worrying about mice crawling on my face.After pitching my tent, I took my food over to the shelter and conversed with those present and listened to Beem, a hiker I recently met, play her guitar. I stayed until it became too chilly for comfort and retired to my tent. As I compose this entry, I've been listening to the constant cheep, cheep noise of some birds, which is occasionally interupted by another bird whose call is a 15 second long warble. Strange.Bedtime at 10:00 p.m.