#9 Erwin to Roan

4/26: We woke up warm and dry inside of a motel that we shared with Otter and Sunshine and ate a complimentary breakfast of waffles and cereal. Then we got a shuttle to the trail and started hiking in the cold rain. It wasn’t raining hard though, and we warmed up as we walked. We passed rivers that flowed alongside the trail. It was pretty nice in spite of the rain until we hit the climb right before the shelter because that was a doozy. When we got to the shelter, we ate lunch and chatted with other hikers. Hawk got cold and had to do the Hiker Jig (a dance to warm up) so Survivor filtered the water. We started back up and it rained on and off. Survivor said “as long as it doesn’t hail or snow, I’ll be fine!” Five minutes later it was hailing. It didn’t last long, but it was very funny. We were treated with some gorgeous views of the mountains as we hiked on top of a bald. Then we had about a mile left, which was tough because Hawk was achy and Survivor needed new shoes, but we made it to the campsite. Otter and Survivor made a fire with wet wood which was super impressive, we ate couscous for dinner, and then huddled up in our tent because it’s cold outside.

Survivor and Otter showing off their fire

4/27: “Do you want some McDonalds breakfast sandwiches?” Is always a welcome question for hikers to hear. And we got lucky enough that someone pulled up to the gap we stayed at and asked us that very question. A couple from around the area were setting up trail magic, so we chowed down on the sandwiches, bananas, oranges, and drank hot coffee. It was a wonderful start to the morning. Then we started going uphill and we reached a pine forest with hemlocks. It was so beautiful up there! Our plan for the day was to hike 11.4 miles. We did 7 miles before stopping for lunch and decided to do 7.1 more. So today we did 14.1 miles, which is our longest day by .1! We passed by an old apple orchard and found some wild onions and Hawk ate one. When we got to camp we were pooped but Survivor and Otter made an awesome fire. Then we filtered water, made a dinner of chicken teriyaki and mashed potatoes and went to bed.

4/28: The day started out cloudy and chilly, but we warmed up quick as we hiked. We went pretty quick for the first half and came to Hughes Gap where there was trail magic! And we ate eggs and hash from a griddle. I cannot properly express the joy I felt from a couple of eggs, but let me say it was immense. We stayed there for a while and chatted with the people there. The guy making the eggs thru hiked in ‘17. We want to do trail magic too when we’re finished, so it was cool to see someone younger giving back to the trail. The next section was Roan Mountain, which goes up past 6,000 feet. The climb wasn’t too bad though, and the sun was peeping out of the clouds, so it was an enjoyable hike up. When we reached the summit, there was a lot of flat land where a luxury hotel in the 1800’s used to be.

Luxury hotel here we come!

We took a snack break there and then headed back down. Except the entire way down was loose rocks. Our feet, ankles, knees, and souls hurt. We hobbled all the way down the mountain until we finally hit dirt- ahhh glorious dirt! The campsite was down the road, so we hobbled over to it, pitched our tent, and sat down as soon as we could. We ate chicken chili and chicken curry (thanks mom!) for dinner and hung out with Otter and Sunshine around a fire until bed.

4/29: We left our pine grove campsite and walked up the road to where the trail started. Unfortunately it was a big climb, but at the top we were treated to some spectacular views of clouds rolling over the mountains like a river.

We stopped to appreciate the view, and then hiked on. It was a nice day for hiking- sunny and a high of 65, and it was already starting to warm up. From where we started, there was a shelter about 6 miles away where we wanted to eat lunch, so we hiked there. It was a beautiful shelter with great views of a valley. The shelter was actually a barn that was repurposed, so we checked it out inside. Then we had some more climbs up balds. The biggest was Hump Mountain which was a tough climb but it was awesome being able to see all around at the top. Then we just had downhills before we got to our campsite, but someone thought it was a good idea to put the trail through a boulder field, so we clambered around rocks until we got to camp. The wind picked up and it got chilly, so we set up and ate a quick dinner before climbing into our tents for bed.

We hiked 3 miles to a hostel yesterday and Survivor got new shoes in the mail! And we are officially out of North Carolina now, so that’s another state down. Today we’re back on the trail and ready to rock and roll :)

Happy trails!