Into Roan Mountain

Day 51: (June 3rd)

My alarm went off at 5 AM, and after snoozing quite a couple times, I finally rolled out of bed. I left my phone number with CeeCee just in case anyone called about my poles, and started hiking back down the trail. I had to go extra slow so that I could search through the leaves and grass. I made it 3 miles back when I received a call from CeeCee. Someone found my poles! Keith (who found my poles) was just .5 miles from me. I hiked to him, and I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw him carrying my poles. We hiked the 3.5 miles back to the hostel together, and I must’ve thanked him at least a million times on the hike back.
We finally arrived back at the hostel, and I went to find Harambe. He was hanging out with Sneak, Giggles, and Data. They all informed me that they were planning on doing a night hike to the Roan High Knob shelter. I quickly told them that I wouldn’t be joining them on that one. I only had a sleeping bag liner to sleep in, so I didn’t want to be staying in the highest shelter on the AT. I was planning to go to the next shelter after Greasy Creek, even though it was only 2 miles or so.
The four of us hung out all day. And finally, the sun was going down. I headed down the trail to the shelter and said my goodbyes. I made it to the Clyde Smith shelter in no time. There, I found Ragnar. Poseidon, C Sharp, Fridge, Dragon Born, and Imposter. They were playing Dungeons and Dragons as usual. I set up all my gear, hung my bear bag, and watched them play DnD for a while.
We were all sitting around the fire, laughing and hanging out when two headlamps shined our way. Sneak and Harambe came out of the darkness and joined our fire pit. So much for their night hike. They both decided to stays and make up the miles the next day.

Day 52: (June 4th)

We woke up that morning to find that Fridge was sick again. He informed us that he had a dairy allergy which he had been ignoring. He had been eating cheese and mashed potatoes the night before, and he was paying the price that morning. All of the food in his resupply had dairy in it, so he had to go into town to get some dairy free food items. He was planning to hike back to Greasy Creek Friendly and get a shuttle from there to the nearest grocery store. I suggested that he just hike to the next Gap (Hughes Gap Road) which was just 3 miles north. From there, he could get a shuttle into Roan Mountain and resupply. Suddenly, everyone loved the idea. Ragnar, C Sharp, Harambe, and I decided that we would go with him to make sure that he was safe. And that way, we could yellow blaze over Roan mountain and get back on at Carters Gap.
We had formulated a great plan, we hurried out of the shelter and to the gap. When we reached the top of the mountain before the gap, it started to pour down rain. It was even more reason to hurry down the mountain. We called a shuttle from the gap and waited for what seemed like forever in the rain.
Finally, the shuttle pulled up, and we all piled in. We had the shuttle drop us off at Bobs Dairyland which was a local restaurant. They had amazing burgers, shakes, and BBQ. We stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t eat anymore. While we were eating, Fridge decided that he didn’t want to get back on at Carters Gap, and instead he just wanted to stay at Mountain Harbor B&B in Roan Mountain. Harambe was next to agree with Fridge’s plan; then came C Sharp. Ragnar and I both still wanted to go back to the trail to see the Overmountain shelter and finish the 16 miles into Roan Mountain, but the shuttle would be too expensive for just the two of us. Reluctantly, we decided to stay. We all headed to the B&B.
We all got our bunks and signed up for their famous breakfast the next morning. We ate some more food from the food truck that was parked outside the hostel/ B&B. I went into the hostel to put my stuff away, and found one of the very first people I had met on trail: Jesse. His name was Mr. O now, and we were amazed that we hadn’t run back into each other sooner. It was crazy to see someone almost 50 days later who I hadn’t seen since day one.
Our crew spent the rest of the night just hanging out in the shelter watching (making fun of) Pirates of the Caribbean. Finally, we all crashed out after the long day.

Day 53: (June 5th)

My alarm went off at 7:30 because we had to be downstairs for the breakfast by 8. I hopped out of bed so fast. I was ready to experience this amazing breakfast that I had heard so much about. We all headed down and eagerly awaited our meals. They had so much food. Every type of breakfast food imaginable was there along with pastries, fruit, and casseroles. I grabbed as much as I could on one plate, and minutes later was back for seconds. It was so delicious.
With stuffed bellies, we headed back to the hostel. The plan was originally to be at Overmountain shelter that day, and since we were already past that, we decided to take a zero day.
We got our resupplying done at the dollar general, and went back to Bobs Dairyland for lunch. With full bellies, we headed black to the hostel to do the rest of our chores. We got our laundry done quickly after, and then decided to set up our tents instead of buying another round of bunks.
We then went back to watching Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We ate the food truck food again, and talked about how the only thing missing was beer. Someone found out that just a couple of miles up the road, there was a liquor store that we could buy some beer at. Of course, we all got some beer. We spent the rest of the night drinking and hanging out. Late that night, we all crawled into our tents and crashed.