Brief Update From TN

After a planned off-trail trip to play in a golf tourney  in Philly, and waiting out tornado warnings in Asheville, NC, Carsoni and I jumped back on the trail at Sam’s Gap just in time to catch the biggest trail-magic session I’ve seen thus far. There were grills for hamburgers and hot dogs, coolers with potato salad and coleslaw, and plenty of cold drinks. It’s probably best that we were coming from town and had just eaten breakfast, otherwise things would’ve gotten ugly and digestive systems would have been decimated.

Despite several practice sessions on the trail, my team only finished 3rd

The weather has been perfect the past few days, after recent stormy weather. There have been a few big climbs including Roan Mountain, which peaks at over 6,200 feet. Although I didn’t find a good photo opportunity atop Roan, the clear skies made for a picturesque climb up to the open balds that followed.

2nd Album Cover

This week I also came across the coolest shelter so far on the trail. Overmountain Shelter is a converted old barn that overlooks the valley below. Along the trail you see many of the same sights; you feel like you’ve walked the same path through the woods a hundred times by now and most of the shelters look the same. Because of this, I’ve come to appreciate any sections that are out of the norm. This week has offered quite a few of these areas, and this barn shelter was definitely one.

No zombies in this barn

As a bonus, there was a nice grassy field in front of the barn where I set up camp for the night.

Room with a view

We climbed up Big Hump Mountain the next day, a lovely long climb up a grassy hill. The wind was howling and kept pushing me off the trail. Once at the top, however, the view was one of the best so far.

Hot dogs or legs?

We’ve now left North Carolina for good and should be hitting Virginia in a few days.