cherry gap shelter to roan high knob shelter

the weather report was true! it stayed dry all night! i slept well, except my sleeping pad kept deflating and i kept having to top it up. i’m not sure if it’s because i have a leak, or the plug didn’t seal correctly. my plug came from the factory with the connector plastic a little wonky, so i have to make sure it doesn’t get caught in the plug.

the morning wasn’t great. the 20% chance of rain was more like 80%, and the trail stayed a muddy mess. again, i adopted my methodical pace to avoid taking a digger like i did yesterday. the weather was grey and blustery, making it difficult to use my trusty umbrella. thankfully the wind picked up just as the rain finally stopped.

the spring ephemera were out in full force. the forest floor was completely covered in trout lillies, dutchman’s britches (though not yet flowering), ramps, and tons of others i couldn’t identify. i walked along munching ramps that were close to the trail.

i stopped at clyde smith shelter for lunch. quick was already there. rocket and bugs showed up before we took off, and in true bugs style, she took off first.

i hiked up to little rock knob where there was a brief vista. a hiker by the name of ‘lyric’ mentioned that there was a rumor that there might be burger trail magic 2.5 miles ahead at the gap.

i kept on hiking and caught up to bugs. we chatted while we hiked about food and specifically diets. she was interested in the primal diet that i loosly adhere to when i’m in the world. out here it’s hard to carry nutrient dense foods as they’re heavy and expensive.

we got to the gap, and sure enough there was trail magic. it was starting to be tapped out though. they were out of burgers, buns, and hot dog buns. they had one hot dog left, which i promptly ate, and a bunch of snacks and beers. i drank a beer and ate snacks listening to the trail magic folks talk about their past thru-hikes.

from there we had a 5.5 mile climb up to roan high knob shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. quick and i took off first and hiked together. i took a tootsie roll pop from the trail magic, and tried to eat it on the climb. that was a mistake. every time i sucked on the pop i had to breathe through my nose and was essentially suffocating because i was breathing hard.

it was a long climb, but eventually quick and i got to the shelter. it’s two story and actually has 4 walls and a door, which is unique.

rocket arrived a short while later. i spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with the other hikers. we waited for bugs for dinner, but she never showed up. eventually we had dinner and at some point rocket had got a text from bugs that she overshot the shelter and rather than turning back had continued on to the next one. we’ll reconnect tomorrow on the way, or at the hostel.

a couple additional images from today: