Thursday, May 30, 2013

5/20/13 - Day 35 - Highest Shelter on the Trail

Cherry Gap Shelter to Roan High Knob Shelter
16.8 miles, 375.8 miles total

Overall, today was a good day. The weather was excellent, clear and sunny. But this morning was rough. Putting on soaking wet underwear, pants, socks, and shoes, and then hiking in them is quite possibly one of the most miserable things about the AT. Luckily, everything pretty much dried throughout the day.

Since it rained all night, some wildlife came out onto the trail that doesn't normally appear. I saw a lot of earthworms, as well as quite a few small orange salamanders.

Roan Mountain is one of the tallest mountains on the AT, and there is only one way to get to the top: climb. Okay, well, hike, but it was one of the most challenging ascents so far, especially since it was at the tail-end of my day.

This shelter is the highest one on the AT, sitting at nearly 6200 feet above sea level. Unfortunately, there isn't really a view to anywhere since the shelter is surrounded by pines. Tonight, in and around the shelter are Ninja, Mess, MacGyver, and Sugarpie (or something like that, I didn't really catch her name, she's headed south).

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