Date: 2006-04-20
From: Carvers Gap

To: Buck Mtn Rd
Miles today: 16.8

The plan for today was to have Piper and Frodo support us on for a long day where we don't carry all our gear (while they have the fun of working on a term paper), then we get to spend another evening with them (and a real bed). This is a practice on the AT that's called Slackpacking. We've seen a lot of people doing different variations on Slackpacking over the last month. Some people will even get slacked to a road at a high elevation, then walk the trail backwards so that it is more downhill. Everyone has different ideas on where to draw the line, and I think for us, we'll probably only slack when we have friends up that don't want to hike on certain days. Personally, I wouldn't do the "backwards" slacking - but like I said, everyone has to decide what's right for their hike.The 17 miles we hiked were amazing. This would be a great section for a 2 day backpacking trip if anyone is in the Hampton TN / Roan Mtn State park area. We crossed an area called the Roan Highlands. We climbed 3 huge balds right off the bat. After hiking in trees for so long, this was exhilarating. The whole day had a feeling of exhilaration - nice weather, beautiful scenery, and being able to look forward to being with Matt and Becca this evening. We descended towards the Stan Murray shelter, then the Overmountain shelter. The Overmountain shelter is an old red barn. It's really beautiful. After that, we climbed Little Hump Mtn and then Hump Mtn. These are beautiful balds as well. Becky ate some lunch (my stomach was still to messed up to eat) and we continued on towards the Apple House Shelter. At this shelter, we got a shock. Pi had written in there, had decided that his foot hurt too much to go on for the moment. He has decided that he will go home a week early for the wedding he was planning to attend, rest and heal up, and get back to the trail in a couple of weeks. Pi has been near us since we started the trail March 14. No one is more enthusiastic about the trail than Pi, so it was a shock and a sad moment to read this in the shelter register. Also, it points to the fragility of the quest we are all on.We hustled down to 19E, hoping we would find Pi. Pi was there and we offered to take him to town, and then Matt and Becca could bring him to an airport or bus station tomorrow. Pi said that this is what he was hoping for. He called us "the golden hitch". We had 3.5 miles left to Buck Mtn Rd, so Pi stayed put while we finished up the hike. After we crossed 19E, we climbed through what appeared to be an old farm area. Fruit trees were blooming and there were berry bushes around. Also there were a lot of piles of rocks around where they had cleared the land.Finally we descended down to Buck Mtn Rd where Piper and Frodo were waiting for us.After picking up Pi, we headed down the mountain to a little Thai restaurant we had spied earlier. I mean LITTLE. They were overwhelmed with 2 tables. The cook said they were running out of food and that they were "out of number 1 through 5". Everyone enjoyed it but me (still bad stomach).I know that I can't get away with this for long, but with my lack of appetite, for 17 mountainous miles, I ate a small cup of yogurt, a banana and half of a clif bar. This is kind of like opposite of the Thru Hiker hunger I had 4 days ago.We enjoyed the rest of the evening with Pi, Matt and Becca and capped it off with a visit to A&W for root beer and milk shakes.We'll miss the kids when they leave tomorrow. It's been so great having them up. Not sure how we'll react when they (and Pi) leave, but...More tomorrow...