Day 38-44: The Hikers of Roan

Dearest everyone,

Fran on the blower this time. We are currently in Daleville, Virginia, having walked 724 northbound miles. We are spending the night in the local hiker-friendly motel having started hiking at 5.30am this morning to catch the sunrise at the famous McAfee Knob, a picture of which has been Harry’s PC wallpaper for the past 9 months whilst we planned for the trip! It’s also pictured on this blog’s header image. A special day and 18 trail miles complete by 2pm, which is definitely a record! Hope all is well at home, here’s the next chapter of The Appalachian Express…

We awoke at Clyde Smith Shelter on day 38 to frozen shoes and a thin layer of snow calmly covering the world around the shelter. The tarps ingeniously rigged by Super Scout had held the winds at bay overnight. As the cold air of early morning began to thaw we dared to hope for good views while crossing Roan Mountain.

The morning was to comprise a climb of 2,160 feet. Thankfully the long switchbacks on the trail made the climb enjoyable, but as we crossed Ash Gap and climbed the final 800 feet, the cold of the day before was all too evident in the cascades of ice that now covered the trail. We skidded and clawed our way up each section, each turn bringing a new icy challenge, until we reached the high bluff and knob. Having walked 8 miles that morning we then stopped for lunch at the picnic area near the parking lot, lamenting the fact the restrooms (US lingo now!) were locked. Having successfully navigated the treacherous ice path before, Harry was irked to find some ice sneakily hidden in the shadows of the parking lot and took a tumble by the guard’s cabin, thankfully his pack took the brunt of the fall and no damage was done. Darn parking lots!

After Roan Mountain, we descended through yet more treacherous ice, and missed a turning or two before we traversed three grassy balds. The balds were glorious. We enjoyed the bright sun and cool air and even a bit of trail magic, consisting of brownies and sodas. That certainly helped us well on our way.

We passed Stan Murray Shelter finally making our way to Overmountain Shelter, a converted barn. The red barn is iconic on the trail, with views over a far-reaching valley and enough space to fit 20 hikers. Alas, that evening the cold winds ripped through the barn, up through the floorboards and forced hikers into their tents, inside the barn!

The next day afforded more beautiful views as we crossed Little Hump and Hump Mountain. For the last couple of weeks we had been crossing back and forth the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, and now, descending from 5,587 to 2,900 at mile 389.3 we crossed Doll Flats where we finally left North Carolina, to stay in Tennessee until we reached Damascus, Virginia.

After a total of 8.7 miles that day we hit a road crossing where we detoured to stay the night at Mountain Harbour, a B&B and hostel famed for having the best breakfast on the trail. We had heard great things and after rain, snow and a gruelling few days we were eager for some R&R. Having rung ahead the day before we had booked the Jefferson Suite, and sweet it was. This was the money maker for the B&B, a massive room with fireplace, large four-poster bed, jacuzzi, and furnished exquisitely in a homely chic style. I could have lived there quite happily. The bed had steps up to it, or, with a running jump you could plough head first into the mints nestled by the pillows. You could not ask for more. We dined at the BBQ joint in town, Harry demolished the Holy Cow (!) burger, a gastronomic challenge worthy of Man VS Food. We resupplied at the local store, which was a stretch as the offering was modest, and returned to Mountain Harbour to enjoy the room. Having showered, bathed and then showered again in the morning, we must have been the cleanest we’ve been in a long while! The jacuzzi soothed our achey feet and we climbed into bed where we slumbered peacefully until the morn. Thereupon, at 8am, breakfast was laid out. It lived up to every possible expectation and more. Homemade sourdough bread, baked ham, green bean and cheese flan, apple tart, muffins, an egg pizza thing, home fries, waffles, coffee and juice. So tasty and such a cosy family atmosphere.

From there we left around 11.30am, still digesting, to head up into the mountains. We met a new hiker that morning, called Indiana, who, with ultralight pack, lean long legs and flowing locks, looks made for hiking. He quickly sped past and we cranked up the speed until we were once again striding along at our usual pace. Quite by surprise, an hour or so later we espied Early Bird and called out to her ahead. It was great to see her again, having been out of touch since Erwin. We caught up with Junko and Minty and then walked and talked for the remaining 8 miles of the morning. We reached Mountaineer Shelter to pause for lunch, quoffing the final PBR (beer) left over from the night at Mountain Harbour. We chatted with Captain D and PC6 who were settling in there, much to our enjoyment (we later saw them at Damascus too). Leafing through the shelter journal we saw Stretch and Fresh had left a note, urging us to join them in Damascus on Sunday for an Easter feast. We were at once elated and deflated. It would have given us great pleasure to do so, but it was Friday and we were too many miles away. This was day 40 and we didn’t reach Damascus until day 44. Happily however, we had walked nealy 10 miles in 3 1/4 hours, we felt like we were flying. We ploughed on, beer racing through our system, hoping to continue the high speed. We ended up walking 17.2 that day and wild camping on the side of the trail, with a small fire and pasta dinner we settled down for the night. Even before lights were out we could see a whole flock of rabbits running around the undergrowth, a new, if not uncommon, animal for our wildlife watch. We went to sleep, looking forward to the next day where we would cross paths with a town called Hampton!

In the morning we had only 8 miles to the junction to Hampton. It was a surprisingly long-feeling 8 miles. We met just one person along the way, Jeff, who heartily recommended staying at Black Bear Resort, and as Junko and Early Bird were headed there, we followed suit. We took a small cabin and stocked up on snacks from the shop. Soon after, Bob, the co-owner, drove us into town. Knowing we were eager to compare this Hampton with that of South West London, he wonderfully and kindly offered us a 10-cent tour. We saw Watauga Lake and the dam, the largest earthen dam in the States. He took us the length of the town via an old-school grocery store, finally stopping at MacDonalds where we bought dinner and donated a dollar to the local boy scout selling coupons outside. It’s a small town, and apparently in a poor area. Over this and the next few days we were to hear about how rife meth labs are in this and nearby towns. Quite surprising! Anyhow, we returned to Black Bear Resort, at mile 417, and watched Young Guns (‘Regulators mount up!’). The 80s soundtrack was cracking.

We left at 9am the next morning, walking past Laurel waterfalls, which were stunning, and up a steep climb to pond flats. Straight back down, we found ourselves by the lake and dam we’d seen the day before, where we stopped for lunch.

The sun was shining and we enjoyed the walk round the lake and over the dam itself. By now the day was starting to feel long and while others stopped by the lake for the evening we pushed on to the Vandeventer shelter, at mile 434.5. We watched avidly for a spring, listed in the guide as being nearly two miles earlier. Having passed what appeared to be a mere murky puddle, it transpired that it was indeed the spring, and having missed it we had no more water sources until the shelter. Fine you would assume, but at this shelter the water source was 0.4 miles away and down an insanely steep ravine. With the sun rapidly falling we set off down the ravine and with each step were bewildered by how far and how steeply it could unfold. Water in hand we slowly clambered back up to the shelter to capture the final moments and fiercely bright colours of the sunset. As night fell we packed up our dinner things and enjoyed the clear, vast views from behind the shelter of the valley and towns below. Twinkling lights of the homes below offered a beautiful view with a human touch, which we shared with Plan B and Movin’ On, two new hiker pals at the shelter.

The next day was Easter Monday and we rose expecting to enjoy a relatively ‘flat’ ridgeline all the way to Abingdon Gap Shelter, a whopping 22.7 miles down the trail. It was harder than we thought, calling on inner reserves. It’s surprising how many grave stones and monuments you can come across along the trail. That day we came across Nick Grindstaff’s monument, which rather morosely read ‘He lived alone, died alone, and suffered alone’. Food for thought. We pushed on and reached mile 457.2, a new personal best of 22.7 in one day, and leaving just 10 miles to Damascus, the next town that the trail actually travels through. We’d read about people hiking a Damascuthon, which is walking 33 or 50 miles or something crazy, in just 24 hours. Not sure really, seems to be different for each person, but we were happy with 22.7 to reach Abingdon Shelter. We were the only two to sleep in the shelter, perhaps everyone else, some 10-15 tents, knew the mice were on something! They were pretty hyper all night, a proper disco on the metal roof and sliding all over the place. It was the first time we’d actually seen mice, and they were brazen. Thankfully they left our packs alone and I slept sound. Harry, however, awakened, repeatedly through the night, woke early. As I dozed on, he fell back asleep and cricked his neck. Painful! We both finally arose at a respectable 8.30 to find everyone else had gone.

It was only 10.4 miles to the middle of Damascus and everyone set off early to make the most of the day. As we walked we used patchy reception to ring ahead to find a room. With the Hikers Inn fully booked they recommended Ruby’s Rest and after a couple of calls we had a private room booked. Jeff at Ruby’s Rest sounded so friendly on the phone and we quickened our step, eager to meet him. Via lunch at Dairy King we made our way up a residential street to Jeff’s place. The room wasn’t quite ready but Jeff generously thrust a beer in our hands and as the rain started, sat us down in his car port. We felt so relaxed, and strangely American at that moment. From then on we had the most fantastic day and a half.

The room at Ruby’s Rest was a small cottage in the garden of Jeff and Nicky’s house, and had an ensuite bathroom and cosy double bed and bunkbeds for two more if needed. The wall to wall books, beautiful furnishings, coffee maker, DVD selection and beer-stocked fridge made us feel instantly at home. But chores need to be done. First stop,the pharmacy. My knee was hurting, and Harry’s ankle too, so we stocked up on supports, sun cream (factor 50 this time!), and vitamins before moving on to the  outfitter. We needed to replace our leaking sawyer filter bag. The guys were out of stock but had a platypus that could potentially fit, and as it was missing a cap was given to us for free. Amazing! We bought a couple of things, and as we enjoyed the company at Mount Rogers Outfitters, we chatted with a guy called Doug. He generously offered to drive us up to Food City, and we made instant friends. We listened to Old Crow Medicine Show, chatted and horned moonshine on our way to the store. Minutes later we were back at the Rest contemplating dinner. Following some ramshackle but fun Mexican food, we joined fellow hikers at the Blue Blaze Cafe for some drinks. Red Dog, Red Beard, Raffiki, Walking Stick and pals were there. We perhaps had one too many as the next morning we promptly decided to zero. My knee was hurting, as was Harry’s neck still, and the cottage was too nice to leave! The extra day meant we met up with Junko and Early Bird again, and got some decent sleep and movie-watching done. I still think of that lovely cottage and great people, it was a fabulous stay.

More next time 🙂

Harry and Fran xxxx