Today was all about beating the storm. We heard thunderstorms were supposed to roll in late afternoon so we had extra motivation to push big miles early. It was lots of uphill but I don't mind that. We saw an eft (salamander) on the trail! Got a great pic. I've been looking for those the whole trip because I've seen them in other hikers' blogs.
It was very windy today. Lots of switchbacks up Roan Mountain made the hike easier. I managed to catch a garter snake but I was alone so I held it waiting for Wing It and his camera to catch up. He didn't show up for a while and the snake decided to latch onto my thumb. I decided to let it go. Wing It caught up right when I was wiping up the blood. When I catch a snake I expect it to bite me, so I was unphased. Wing It seemed a bit concerned.
The summit was pretty unremarkable. Wing It and I went down to the parking lot to check out the bathrooms but it turns out they were locked. Boo! I peed behind them anyway. We also threw away our trash. Then we made the short hike up a tricky path to Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. It was a cute little 2-story log cabin in a spruce forest. Still no rain.
We hiked on to the second shelter to prop up our feet for a minute or two. We had just crossed two balds and very rocky trails. We finally made it to Overmountain Shelter, a converted old barn with huge capacity! We are staying upstairs. I took a photo from my seat on the privy. Tee hee.
The storm blew through right after I got water with Squirrel. It was heavy but brief. Sadly, Squirrel's dog Zima knocked over Bluebird's dinner. Squirrel was super apologetic and offered Bluebird some of her food. That's just one of many reasons dogs aren't the best idea on the trail. I love dogs, but unless they are always on a leash they are probably going to accidentally do things to annoy people.
The rest of the crew still hasn't caught up. I'm guessing they might be at the Roan shelter. We're headed for a night at Mountain Harbour B&B/Hiker Hostel in Roan Mt, TN. It's supposed to rain the next few days so it will be nice to have a dry place to stay.
Best Thing: Seeing an eft and catching a snake.
Looking Forward To: Seeing the "massive stone wall" listed in the guidebook and getting to town.
Best thing: Being bit by a snake.....
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