4/23/2014

4/23/14                                Boone, NC

     So it's Wednesday and I left my dad Monday. He dropped me off where I finished slack-packing the day before (4/21 at Iron Mountain Gap) and hiked to Roan High Knob Shelter (13 miles). The last five were over Roan High Knob and so far were the most brutal. It would have been a bit better if it wasn't at the end of the day, or if I had eaten real lunch instead of just a handful of trail mix. However the top of the mountain / knob / whatever was kinda cool. There was a large open field where a hotel had once stood. A little plaque had said that it sat directly on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line with the line actually painted across the dining room and down the middle of the banquet table or whatever. Seeing as Tennessee was a dry county at the line and North Carolina wasn't, you had to be careful where to drink there. The shelter was also pretty cool. Not only was the the highest shelter built on the trail, it also had the most walls so far! You'd think normally that wouldn't be an issue, but this shelter was basically a house. It had a door and everything, it could even lock shut! You never realize how awesome a door is until you don't have one for a month.

     From there I only did 7.1 miles to Overmountain Shelter (4/22). Roan High Knob may have had a cool shelter, but this one at Overmountain was a barn. A ligitimate barn that was fitted for people instead of horses. it was really awesome, and i now can say, "i got to sleep in a barn!" Not that anyone would ever want to say that but its still sweet. It was raining all that day and none of us from the previous shelter [Me, Voodoo, Jenaayy, Sarge, Happy Feet, Shakes(peare), and Gargoyle] felt like going farther. The rain finally ended around 4p.m. which gave all of us enough time to pick wild ramps growing along the trail. yes, ramps. Imagine tiny bulbs you pull out of the ground that look like garlic cloves but taste and smell like onions. You can eat the entirety of it from the greens shoots growing out of it to the actual bulbs. The roots however you'd want to get rid of. Needless to say we had a massive ramp roast that night. We put them in tin foil with olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and roasted them over a campfire. Man, they were delicious. Also managed to wake up and see the sunrise. Someone had asked me if i ever get tired of seeing the sunrise every morning, and I'd have to say never.

     4/23 I hiked ten miles to the 19-E which is a major road between North Carolina and Tennessee. I met one of my friends there who's going to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. it's about half an hour or so away from the trail, so not too bad. (Thank you so much for everything!) And now it's time for us to go party. To the bar!

-Sam

(Insert martini glass here)