Date: 2003-04-14
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter 
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

I knew a couple of things about today's "schedule". I knew there was a fairly steep, but not too long climb right out of the shelter. I also knew there was a long and big climb, starting about 3 miles out of the shelter. Neither disappointed.The climb up Little Rock Knob was quite steep, with some rock climbing at the top. There were some great views from there though, and it just proved a warmup for the loooong climb up Roan Mtn. However I was treated to a nice downhill cooldown between them.How to describe the climb up Roan? Hmmm... Long. Steep. Muddy. Snowy. Difficult. But it was great. Now that it's over. The road up to Roan Mountain is still closed, so when I got to the top, it was mostly empty. A group of 5 thruhikers (that were at the shelter last night) was just finishing up lunch and heading down the mountain. Once Hotdog got there, a few minutes later, it was just the two of us. It was pretty cool. The views were okay. There was still some snow, even on the sunbathed top, and even though the temps were in the 50s. We snapped a few pictures and headed to the Roan High Knob Shelter. It's the highest on the AT at 6285', and because of that, we had to hike the 0.1 mile to see it. It is a former fire warden's cabin, therefore has four walls. The bottom level is about 15'x15', but the top, the attic if you will, was huge! The guidebook says it can sleep 15, but I'd say more like 40!Since that was only our 6th mile of the day, Hotdog and I moved on, to lower elevation and less snow. The snow wasn't too bad. In most places the trail was completely snow-free. However, due to the melting, a lot of the trail was a beautiful running stream. Or thick mud. My boots are soaked again, but won't freeze tonight thankfully.At Carver's Gap, beyond Roan Mountain, we received trail magic from 2000 AT thruhikers Slingblade and Lucky Dawg. As we approached the road crossing, Hotdog and I could hear voices, laughter, and music. We were delighted to see a van, with doors wide open, and a bunch of hikers sitting around drinking cans of something and eating out of bags of something. I was glad to see it was cans of soda or beer, and cheesy puffs out of the bags. They also had Little Debbie snacks. I had a soda, some cheesy puffs and a couple of snacks. Mmm mmm good!We then climbed Round Bald. The views were outstanding! 360* views! Back toward Roan. Ahead toward Grassy Ridge. And mountains I don't know to either side. Awesome views! And it was sunny and warm too. I wish it had been earlier in the day so I could've stayed longer, but it was well after 4pm and we were still over 5 miles from our destination.I'm in Overmountain Shelter, which is a big red barn, that's now a shelter. The lower level has 2 sleeping platforms and a picnic table. The upper level is open and could easily sleep 40. The guidebook says it sleeps 20. Maybe this upper level won't hold too many. Good thing it's just me and Hotdog up here. The group of five, plus one are sleeping below and one hiker is tented nearby. Even though today was probably the hardest day physically, I felt pretty good today. At one point,I noticed my heart was beating rather hard. I took my pulse and it was 160 beats/minute! I guess that's a good cardio workout! I slept horribly last night, due to my congestion, and today, when stopped for breaks, my nose was completely stopped up. After some exertion, my sinuses cleared a lot. I was almost anxious to be moving again!This was my longest day hiking. I started at 9am and got to the shelter at 7:30! Of course, that included slow climbing, a long break for trail magic, and a taxing and unnecessary water run right before the shelter. I feel good though, and hope I got worn out so I can sleep good tonight.