Day 25 - Mar 17
We woke up at 630 to a light rain. I got another night of okay sleep. I was talking with Walker and it seems like our sleep for some unknown reason comes in cycles. For 3 nights straight we sleep incredible, then for the next 4 night we toss and turn or are restless and only sleep okay. Not sure what causes it but its interesting that it's the same for both of us.
We got on the trail by 8 and by 801 we understood that it was going to be a long wet day. The trail was flooded, the rain was pouring down, the forest itself was just soaked.
Our goal for the day was a bit ambitious, but completely within reason. We wanted to go 24 miles from low gap to stan murray shelter.
At 12 we stopped at clyde smith shelter for a break from the rain and a chance to eat lunch. When we arrived we met a fellow through hiker by the name of boots. Since we were wet and hungry, we asked boots about our mileage for the day, since we didnt want to get our guide book out at the time. Big mistake. I'm not sure if boots read the map wrong or if he had copied down the wrong notes, but he told us that we had hiked 7.5 miles from low gap. I was in complete shock. I had no idea in the world how we had managed to hike less than 2 miles an hour. Typically, our pace, no matter the conditions, has always been above 2mph. I knew we were also pushing ourselves to make good time today.
To recover our lost time, Walker and I had a quick lunch and got back on the trail. An hour later, after we tried to understand how we were going so exceptionally slow for our standards, we decided to check our guide book. Lo and behold, we had been fooled. I doubt boots was trying to be malicious, but he definetly read his map wrong. By noon, when we stopped for lunch, we had gone 10 miles. Now, checking our book at 115, we had gone 12.5 miles.... which made soooo much more sense to us.
With our confusion gone and our minds relieved, we pushed on. There was one last big mountain that we had to climb today; Roan high knob. While standing at the bottom of Hughes gap, we were at an elevation of 4040 feet. Roan high knob Is 6300 feet. In 6 miles we would be on the summit.
Walker and I crushed roan high knob. It definetly was a hard mountain, but we reached the summit in under 2 and a half hours. Roughly half way up, the forest changed. Just like with unaka or mountains in the smokies, the forest went from hardwood to evergreen. Similarly, the trail went from leaves to rocks. Due to rain there was even a river flowing right down the trail. It hadn't been raining for most of our climb up but the fog was so thick and winds so high that it was effectively raining on us. The top of the mountain had it's own climate.
When at the top, we heard news that freshgrounds was at the bottom. It was 430 and our stomachs were definetly letting us know that it was time to eat. We descended roan high and got to Carver's gap slightly after 5 where we were greeted by freshgrounds, with warm soup and grilled cheese.
After eating for an hour, Walker and I discussed how the rest of our day would look. Thankfully, freshgrounds interrupted our conversation, and told us that there was camping right near the parking lot and that if we stayed here we would get breakfast.
You better believe that's the option we chose. We would have been out of our minds if we didnt.
We set up camp on a level spot tucked between some spruces to avoid the wind as best as we could. By 630 we were finally able to get out of our wet/ damp clothes and relax in a dry tent.
Even though we didnt do 24 miles today it's no issue. Tomorrow we only have to go 15 miles to 19e where dad is coming down to pick us up. The elevation loss/gain seems to be in our favor tomorrow as well, the day should be fairly easy.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
We got on the trail by 8 and by 801 we understood that it was going to be a long wet day. The trail was flooded, the rain was pouring down, the forest itself was just soaked.
Our goal for the day was a bit ambitious, but completely within reason. We wanted to go 24 miles from low gap to stan murray shelter.
At 12 we stopped at clyde smith shelter for a break from the rain and a chance to eat lunch. When we arrived we met a fellow through hiker by the name of boots. Since we were wet and hungry, we asked boots about our mileage for the day, since we didnt want to get our guide book out at the time. Big mistake. I'm not sure if boots read the map wrong or if he had copied down the wrong notes, but he told us that we had hiked 7.5 miles from low gap. I was in complete shock. I had no idea in the world how we had managed to hike less than 2 miles an hour. Typically, our pace, no matter the conditions, has always been above 2mph. I knew we were also pushing ourselves to make good time today.
To recover our lost time, Walker and I had a quick lunch and got back on the trail. An hour later, after we tried to understand how we were going so exceptionally slow for our standards, we decided to check our guide book. Lo and behold, we had been fooled. I doubt boots was trying to be malicious, but he definetly read his map wrong. By noon, when we stopped for lunch, we had gone 10 miles. Now, checking our book at 115, we had gone 12.5 miles.... which made soooo much more sense to us.
With our confusion gone and our minds relieved, we pushed on. There was one last big mountain that we had to climb today; Roan high knob. While standing at the bottom of Hughes gap, we were at an elevation of 4040 feet. Roan high knob Is 6300 feet. In 6 miles we would be on the summit.
Walker and I crushed roan high knob. It definetly was a hard mountain, but we reached the summit in under 2 and a half hours. Roughly half way up, the forest changed. Just like with unaka or mountains in the smokies, the forest went from hardwood to evergreen. Similarly, the trail went from leaves to rocks. Due to rain there was even a river flowing right down the trail. It hadn't been raining for most of our climb up but the fog was so thick and winds so high that it was effectively raining on us. The top of the mountain had it's own climate.
When at the top, we heard news that freshgrounds was at the bottom. It was 430 and our stomachs were definetly letting us know that it was time to eat. We descended roan high and got to Carver's gap slightly after 5 where we were greeted by freshgrounds, with warm soup and grilled cheese.
After eating for an hour, Walker and I discussed how the rest of our day would look. Thankfully, freshgrounds interrupted our conversation, and told us that there was camping right near the parking lot and that if we stayed here we would get breakfast.
You better believe that's the option we chose. We would have been out of our minds if we didnt.
We set up camp on a level spot tucked between some spruces to avoid the wind as best as we could. By 630 we were finally able to get out of our wet/ damp clothes and relax in a dry tent.
Even though we didnt do 24 miles today it's no issue. Tomorrow we only have to go 15 miles to 19e where dad is coming down to pick us up. The elevation loss/gain seems to be in our favor tomorrow as well, the day should be fairly easy.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
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