Tuesday, April 16

Made it!
(Something to know about me: my absolute favorite time of day is when everything is done and I lie down to rest and take a nice deep breath and exhale a big sigh of relief. its such a wonderful feeling to me to be "done".)
We  left camp about 815 am and  i arrived at over mountain shelter at 415. This is the coolest shelter yet. Its an old barn that has been converted into a shelter. Downstairs is a walk through"hallway" with a 3 sided room off to the side...like a typical shelter with 2 huge plywood platforms and a gorgeous view of the valley (see pics). Upstairs is the hayloft: just a big open floor area and one end wall has an opening covered with a tarp. I took half the tarp down to let in some light and breeze...and to watch for zags arrival. This shelter is 0.3 miles OFF the trail..that's a long way at the end of a 15 mile day when I'm tired and my feet hate me.
Thank goodness its only 9 ish miles to the hostel tomorrow!
    I heard a bird call last night that I've never heard before. It was so lovely...I just had to stand quietly and listen for several minutes. I heard it again while walking today and videoed it to record the sound. I caught a glimpse of the bird but haven't been able to identify it. I wish I could share the song with you, but posting a video doesn't seem to be an option.
I took my morning break at the site of the old Cloudland hotel. A very posh destination in the late 1800s. It was dismantled on the 40s, and the extravagant furniture was distributed across Tennessee and north Carolina. I took off my shoes and socks and shirt and laid out in the sun on a picnic table for about 30 minutes and ate some fruit and nuts...the bathrooms were locked as its a seasonal attraction, but bear proof trash cans were there and its always a treat to get to dump your trash....think  used toilet paper and baby wipes, eaten out of zip lock bags that contained dinner...good stuff to ditch at the first opportunity....bear bait.
    Going up roan mtn, the trail was a stream bed...so glad it wasn't raining or I would've been going STRAIGHT UP the side of the mountain in calf high water...upstream.
    I walked down roan mtn with"great legs" (no, I didn't check out his legs...) It was like dancing over huge chunks of gravel  (golf ball to soccer ball sized) with a 33# pack on my back...doesn't make for happy  feet and ankles...
Ate lunch on top of Round bald...nice to relax and eat with a great view of the mountain I just went over!
  Well, its about 645 and zag is almost here (she sent me a text)....I did some push-ups and stretches...which is sadly rare...usually I'm just too tired...
  In the barn tonight: rob from England; UV, whole bean & mazy the dog;  rusty and toast; and some others I don't know yet...
Tomorrow its only about 10 miles to our destination: mountain b&b
Pics: tree creature; approaching the barn shelter; view of valley from lower level;  lunch view from round bald