Amazingly we have service here in beautiful Roan Mountain, TN! We are tenting in the old horse stable in front of the best hostel we have seen so far... Mountain Harbour B&B run by Mary & Terry. They have a plush green lawn for us to tent on, a nice hostel above their barn, and Mary cooks a gourmet breakfast for everyone every morning -- it is deeeelish.
We took another day off in beautiful Erwin, TN (birthplace of Wayne Stephens for you Spangdahlem folk). We caught a movie (Date Night, very funny), and lightened our pack weight a little more. We mailed some colder weather and rain gear ahead of ourselves based on the forecast at the time, reducing our weight temporarily by about 5lbs. We also made a bold move and mailed our sleeping bags and liners home, reducing our weight another 2-3lbs combined. We picked up some ultralight, fuzzy, cheapo blankets and some sweeeet PJ pants at TJ Maxx and have successfully used them the last few nights. This morning we woke up with a frosty tent and a water bottle half frozen, so we are pretty excited to have slept rather warm with them.
The hike out of Erwin was tough but beautiful. We hiked around with most of the people we've been mentioning lately - Ups, Sideways, Sandman, Lowrider, Peach, Bam Bam, Tiny Dancer, Hot Sauce, Mr T and others. Lowrider found my hat hanging on a tree somewhere and reunited it with me while we all had a lunch break at the Greasy Creek Friendly (where I saw a huge nasty snake!) Climbing up Roan Mountain was a chore! It was one of those mountains where you think you are at the top, but there is another "top" once you get there. We ended up camping halfway up the mountain. We were glad we made that choice as the Roan High Knob shelter is the highest on the AT, and even after 10am the next day there was still bits of snow falling on top.
Yesterday's hike was beautiful... huge bald mountains with 360 degree views of the entire valley. When we reached the top of Little Hump Mountain, you could see the trail across the valley going up Hump Mountain. We figured the trail would go down one mountain and right up the other, but the trail never seems to be that easy. We wound around Little Hump Mountain and down to the very base for over half an hour before we finally got close to the base of the next mountain... very annoying. We have a ton of beautiful pics, but need a library to upload them. :0(
We arrived in Roan Mountain, TN yesterday evening. We hiked half a mile for dinner only to find the restaurant closed early for Mothers day... bummer. Since we were out of food, Jeff used his "magic thumb" to hitch to the only open restaurant, Subway. Once we got there, we were so lucky to see four other hikers waiting on a shuttle back to the Mountain Harbour B&B. So here we are in our tent by their creek for a second night. They shuttled us up the trail 10 miles today and we had a nice, easy slackpack back. At one point, we walked into this cozy pine tree tunnel where the ground was just a sea of needles. Jeff was so inspired that he fell to the ground and started making pine needle angels...weirdo!
Tomorrow we should reach Hampton, TN and Virginia by Thursday or Friday for Trail Days in Damascus. The most recent forecast shows rain for the next 10 days! Good thing Jeff mailed his rain jacket forward because he didn't feel like carrying it, huh? He bought a $5 poncho at the Dollar General this afternoon. Can't wait to take sweet pictures of him hiking in the rain wearing THAT!
Oh yeah, we are 1.8 miles from 400! Awesome!
Well, I'm gonna finish off my Coors Light tall boy that we just bought at the Beer Wash - the drive up beer mart where it's OK that five guys are hanging out drinking beer while watching mud tractor pulling on a 13" zenith while their wolf-dog slept on the counter next to the register where I had pay, kill Jeff in a mean game of Cribbage, and call it a night. Hope to write again in a few days.
~Styx & Bones
-- HikeStrong 2010 - Jeff & Aly
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Congratulations on your arrival in Virginia in time for Trail Days. Strong Work!
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