The sun came out for a couple days and we thought we were finally clear of all the snow and ice. Until we were just below the summit of Roan Mountain where the entire trail turned into a giant frozen river.
Somewhere under all that ice is the trail we were supposed to be on. Thinking this wouldn't last for long, we bushwhacked for a bit and found the trail again farther ahead. But the ice continued...for miles. A few times the safest and easiest way to get down the trail was to put our rain pants on and turn the trail into a slide.
1.5 miles and 3 hours later we finally reached Carvers Gap. We were planning to continue hiking another 5 miles to the next shelter but given it was already 8pm, dark, and the trail continued to be frozen, we decided the safest thing was to leave the trail and get a ride to town. We started walking down the road thinking there was a hostel less than a mile away. 5 minutes later though we realized we were on a completely different road than we originally thought and were actually several miles away from town. Luckily for us, at that same time we happened to walk past a parked car and the couple offered to drive us across town to the hostel we were wanting to stay at.
Upon successfully avoiding that nonsense we enjoyed a nice hot shower, slept in super late (8:30 whoohoo) and this was only due to daylight savings time, and did a nice slow 8 mile day in the sun. First time we were able to wear our shorts and t-shirts while hiking!
We decided to stop at the Kincora Hostel in Hampton, TN since it was basically on the trail. We met the famous Bob Peoples who entertained us for hours with stories from his trail days and all the interesting people who have stayed at his place. He was also incredibly generous by replacing Ian's broken gaiters and giving me a pack cover so I no longer had to rely on the poncho/kite. More and more we have been amazed by how generous and giving people are.
After leaving Kincora Hostel we were planning to stay at the Watauga Lake Shelter, but as we got close to the shelter we met a man who said he stayed at the shelter the night before and had had to deal with an angry bear. So that settled that...moving on to the next shelter. 8 miles of up hill later we were finally at the next shelter and the only source of water was .3 miles straight down the steepest hill ever. Luckily I remembered to bring Ian's headlamp because by the time I finished filling all the bottles it was completely dark and I almost forgot which direction I had come from.
This was the first time in at least two weeks that we were sharing the shelter with other people. This would have been great (finally some other people to talk to), except I wasn't feeling well so all I wanted to do was curl up in the sleeping bag and go to sleep. At least Ian was able to enjoy their company.
The next day was raining and foggy and gross. Luckily the temperature stayed fairly warm because we were instantly wet and remained damp the entire day. This also proved to be a bit of a problem. Because we weren't cold we didn't worry about being wet and decided to go an extra 8 miles than we were originally intending. This was great because it ended up being our longest day (22.7 miles) and our fastest overall average (28 minute miles)! But when we finally reached the shelter our feet were showing the early signs of trench foot :( .
After the day of rain it was nice to wake up to this sunrise.
Lucky for us and our wet clothes and feet, Damscus, VA was only 10 miles away so we've been able to get clean and dry at least for today.
As our days have been getting longer and the miles larger we've found that we've been going through more and more snack food...trail mix, nuts, goldfish, dried fruit, chocolate covered anything, etc.
Hannah Parker and Ian Wilkie
C/o Woods Hole Hostel
3696 Sugar Run Rd.
Pearisburg, VA 24134
ETA March 21, 2015
https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/at-thru-hike
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