Miles Today - 17.2
Location - Overmountain Shelter
Date - May 9
To be a little more fair to the Greasy Creek owner, she was feeling sick and rather stressed. Which in turn made all of us rather stressed. And I did get to eat a pound of burger and a pint of ice cream (Scotchy Scotch Scotch), so, eh.
I made a decently early start, loitering around for some coffee and getting hiking by 8:45. The morning was busy, with some pretty big crowds of hikers, all headed to Overmountain Shelter. Rose posited later that we'd caught up to a big bubble, which makes sense. Lots of new faces.
Roan mountain dominated the morning hike. It was surprisingly easy. At the peak was the sight of an old hotel, the only thing left being a chimney. It straddled the state line in a time where alcohol was legal in one and not in the other. Apparently the sheriff stalked the ballroom and ticketed anyone who stepped across the line with a drink in their hands.
I stopped for lunch at the Roan Mountain Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. It was cute, with four walls, a door, and a separate attic area. Tempting to stay, but I pushed on.
Down the mountain the trail spilled out onto some balds. That's my favorite kind of hiking, with the trail clearly visible ahead, grass all around, and the wind whipping at me. Dark clouds had loomed ahead all day, and they finally began to spit rain down as I went back under the treeline.
The rain cleared by the time I reached Overmountain. It's an old barn that's been converted into a shelter, and it's huge. It's also packed. I ended up in a corner of the rafters with Rose and the crew from the hostel: Jay Weezy, Banjo, Bill and Dancer.
Banjo and I both yogied some fuel from a hiker box a few days back, and it seems to be some kind of rocket fuel. My stove threw fire all over, prompting Dancer to slide some water over to me. Just in case.
New AT goal: catch up to that guy and make him cook with his own fuel.
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