Sun! Finally

So I finally got some sun so I can update people on my progress. I dunno if I will do a full one or just do a few days, we will see how my thumbs feel typing.

On the 20th we hit an outfitter in Johnson City thanks to Miss Janet and after chores and all you can eat Chinese we got back on the trail at 5:30pm and made 4.2 miles to Curley Maple gap shelter. The 21st we went 7.5 miles to the top of Beauty Spot and hit awesome trail magic... We slept there. The 22nd we did 14.5 miles to Clyde Smith shelter. We got there in the slushy rain and decided that on the 23rd we would zero there due to weather. On the 24th we did 14.5 miles in the wind and snow to Overmountain shelter. On the 25th we did 15.7 miles and camped next to Elk River. On the 26th we did 17.3 miles and camped just before Dennis Cove Rd. Today, the 27th we have done 9 miles and I have hit trail magic and MIGHT move on. Now a more detailed description of events. Since it's been so long since the last update I think doing things chronologically will help me remember things.

Miss Janet was completely awesome and drove us around for 5.5 hours. The result was I had a lighter, warmer weather sleeping bag, some new socks and some larger shoes. UV got new shoes. After the outfitter we had a great meal of Chinese food, then wet to the post office to mail home old gear and then went the grocery store to get cheese. All this was accomplished because Miss Janet is great! Not a lot of miles were made but it was a nice day where I felt like a lot was done.

The next day started good, great weather and the miles were going good. At noon we got to the top of Beauty Spot and saw great trail magic! A group of '09 hikers had gotten together and it was awesome. Storyteller organized it and Grits provided a lot of the magic. You might remember Grits was one of the people that provided pancakes a while ago. He had some dangerously good apple moonshine. Chance was there, triple crown hiked over the last three years, was there with free Darn Tough socks and outdoor research hats. It's awesome magic when you get free gear! After eating lunch... and then eating dinner... and then eating breakfast with the group we moved on into the rainy weather. The weather was cold and wet but on the trail you can't be that surprised with that.

By the time we hit the shelter that night it was sleeting and before long it began snowing. The section hikers in the shelter with us were definitely not impressed. That night it was freezing cold and continued snowing. Using mountain-forecast.com I checked what was going to be happening on top of Roan Mt. 20 degree weather and 50 mph winds were happening. UV and I decided to not get out of the sleeping bags and the section hikers decided to hike off the trail and go home. This worked out since they gave us all their food and the zero didn't affect our food supplies. Peach also caught us during that day and stayed with us. It snowed over half the day.

The next day we decided we had to make some miles so we got a late start but moved into the snow. My cold weather hiking attire now consisted of a t-shirt covered by an uninsulated rain jacket. Needless to say it was cold to start but after moving it was pretty good. Roan was cold and snowy but it had good tree cover (photo of trail up Roan below) so it wasn't too cold. My phone battery died on Roan so no more photos for a bit. After Roan we had to walk across balds for a while and despite the beauty of treeless mountain tops, at 25 degrees, with high winds and snow, I'll take trees. On this section of trail some day hikers accused me of stealing UV's skirt when they saw me in a kilt. Despite the slushy, muddy trails and UV getting a bit lost in the snow we made it down to a shelter at 4600 feet and it was quite a bit warmer. The Overmountain shelter was pretty cool, it is a converted barn that could probably sleep 40 people.

The day out of Overmountain had us doing a ton of ridge walking along balds. The weather had warmed up into the 30's and maybe 40's so it wasn't nearly as bad. The trails were horribly muddy though, making traction on ascents a bit difficult. The whole day it kind of threatened rain and/or misted but it was better than freezing cold winds! By the end of the day we had dropped in elevation so much it was down right warm. We camped along the Elk River, which is one of the few real rivers we have seen so far.

We awoke to more rain. It ended rather abruptly AFTER getting our tents packed away but that's still better than nothing. Today we passed the 400 mile mark and it rained a bit but besides that it was just another day on the trail.

Today started good with the earliest start in quite a few days since it was warmish and not raining. After a relatively simple 9 miles we hit trail magic in a lakeside park. All kinds of food on the grill and cold drinks. I ate so much food I felt sick and decided since it was nice and sunny I would sit here and write this instead of moving on.

Oh and I forgot to mention all the photos so here is a rundown of them. The group of people is Beauty Spot trail magic. The guy holding a shoe over a stove is how you can get boots that are frozen solid onto your feet in the morning. The snowy trail is going up Roan. There is a photo of a friendly deer. There is a picture from inside the shelter we zeroed in as Peach arrived. Finally there is a picture of Swiss getting water from the side of a church. The guidebook said it was a water source but there definitely was no sign or anything. UV said it would be fine since churches were supposed to be giving.

Well, I guess I got caught back up. I have digested most of the food and should move on at least a bit. It is now 6:30 pm and I've been here enjoying some magic for hours. Still a few days out of Damascus but now that I have 100% battery again I should be able I do better. Hopefully the cold doesn't come back and eat my battery!