April 30

Penthouse Suite

Woke up to the sunrise coming up over the ridge.  I was packed up and out of the shelter quickly.  The trail started climbing right away, up a grassy slope that looked back onto Overmountain shelter below.  Beautiful.  I was back into the woods briefly, then popped out onto a huge meadow, begining the climb up Little Hump Mountain.  Totally open views all around, at over 5400 feet.  At the top, the larger summit of Hump Mountain came into view.  The trail didn't make a B-line for Hump though, and banked off to the right back into the woods for a bit.  I then came back out onto the meadow at the base of Hump Mountain.  I was laughing with excitement.  The climb up to the 5500 foot summit was long and tough.  Under tree cover this climb would have been miserable.  This climb was actually fun.  Nothing was on this massive mountain except grasses, flowers, and huge boulders.  William Wallace running through the high country of Scotland in the movie Braveheart came to mind.  The views at the top were stunning.  Best in the Roans, and possibly the best on the trail so far.  I took a good break up there with several other hikers from the shelter last night.  I hiked down the back side of the bald, almost stepped on a small brown snake.  Baby copperhead?  I've seen 3 black snakes so far.  They're starting to come out now.  Descending further, I passed by Doll Flats, and heading into Tennessee officially.  See ya North Carolina!  The past 200 miles or so that is shared along the border had been amazing.  I made it to a highway that the trail crossed, to take a water break, and KB came up shortly after.  We hiked together in the afternoon, climbing again.  It was HOT.  We were exposed in a meadow at one point with the sun just beating down on us.  A cool breeze started blowing in, and at the top of the climb we entered some pine trees, and it was quite nice.  We crossed another road and got some water from the faucet outside at a church, in the middle of nowhere.  If we come across any vampires, at least we have some holy water!  We started descending again, and black clouds began to surround us.  We could hear thunder getting closer, and before too long, rain started hitting us off and on.  Pack covers on.  Rain gear on.  We were 6 miles from the next shelter at this point.  We covered 3 miles or so, quickly, trying to beat the rain.  But by the time we bottomed out at the Elk River, the storm had caught us.  I came across several hikers of the "Wolfpack", who let me take cover under their tarp.  KB pushed on.  I waited out the worst of the storm, which include some more hail.  Gotta love the hail out here.  After about 30 minutes the storm started to break and I made a run for it.  I covered the 3 miles to Mountaineer Falls shelter in no time.  The waterfall, for which the shelter was named, was awesome.  I stopped for a quick photo, but I hurried in the drizzle for another tenth of a mile to the shelter.  This is a pretty new shelter, and it is amazing.  The water source is actually the top of the waterfall.  I had managed to only get a little damp in the storm, and quickly changed into my dry bedtime clothes.  The best part was that this shelter had 3 levels.  The third story loft slept 2, and I set up my mat and sleeping bag up there.  Another awesome, awesome day on the AT.  Oh, and by the way, right before the shelter tonight, I crossed the 400 mile mark!

The climb up Hump Mountain.