[at-l] pittsburgh 700am 04/30/02

[hike-usa@pocketmail.com (hike-usa@pocketmail.com)]

pittsburgh 700am 04/30/02

morning at overmountain shelter - with eleven of my friends.  this place is an old red barn that has been modified to suit hikers.  five people were in the loft, seven below.  gusty winds kept us cool.  speaking of which, there was some grumbling about cold weather clothing that people wished they hadn't already sent home<g>...

i am peering down a sweeping valley with the AT ridgline to my left.  the sun is about to arrive from over that ridgeline.  one person has left the shelter already, others are up and noisy, four others still manage to sleep.  the sun will shine directly into the lower bunk area.  i'm waiting...

yesterdays hike was one for the ages.  the imposing climb of roan mountain colored everything in the morning.  we (the small group i've latched onto) leap-frogged our way to the summit, taking our time, taking long breaks, encouraging one another.  we all summited seperately, then collapsed.  the ring of collapsed hikers grew one by one.  we were tired, but we all felt quite a sense of accomplishment.  the climb was hard, but was appealing and interesting, and the reward at the top was tremendous...

as i was collapsed, i mumbled something about wishing there was a soda machine, and many other collapsed hikers mumbled their agreement.  a feeling swept over me, so i announced that "i see a soda in my hand before the day is done", then i donned my pack hiked out...

the hike off of roan is along an old carriage road, which would not generally be bad, but this road is loaded with small rocks and large gravel, which makes for poor footing.  you gotta really pay attention to where each foot goes, else you twist an ankle, or worse...

a new portion of trail has been blazed near carvers gap, and the trail no longer enters the gap beside the parking lot and privies.  it now comes to the highway a coupla hundred feet west of the gap.  when i got to the road, my senses lit up.  there was a pickup truck, with a young couple and a dog, and they were greeting me . . . with sodas and pizza and cookies.  they were both former thru-hikers, live in asheville, and work at the asheville pizza parlor (or some such name).  their boss doanated the four pizzas, and there were plenty of cold cokes.  my prediction had happily come true<g>...

with a full stomach, and with new found energy, i climbed round bald, and jane bald, and grassy ridge.  there is new trail from carvers gap to beyond round bald.  the trail has been built to be erosion proof, a problem in this area...

with continuing vigor, i made it to stan murray shelter, then on to overmountain shelter.  the entire crew from the night before all eventually made it, plus three additional hikers that had come from further south.  they had done some truly huge miles...

the sun is up, but those four cling stubbornly to some semblance of sleep.  it should be glorious day...

pittsburgh

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