Everyone seemed to sleep really well last night, myself included. Of course nothing dried, so we were all very slow to start. The idea of pulling on cold, saturated socks, and then stuffing your feet in soggy boots doesn't exactly evoke any sense of urgency. Not to mention the damp shirt and pants, but thankfully those dry quickly when worn.
The sun came out almost immediately after I set out, which was very exciting. I passed Lavender as she worshipped the sun for a while (her words), but I told her I was "Too wet to stop", and we decided that should be an AT motto. After 3 miles I came to a road and met Dale America, an '02 thru-hiker. Mr. Fantastic caught up with me there and Dale offered us food. Nothing for me, a rice side for Mr. F.
Another 6 miles brought us to a shelter, and lunch. Bender was there, and we met Essay and Tender Fungus. They told us that Meta, Tapeworm, Dick Flap, and Stonechair had stayed there last night, so we're slowly catching up.
We took a long lunch to lay out some of our wet clothes to dry. Mr. Fantastic also watched part 2 of Dr. Horrible.. just one to go.
The first part of the hike had been easy at this point. At times we were pretty much jogging up the trail. The second part destroyed me though. A 7.4 hike up Roan Mountain, which is the last peak above 6000 feet for a long time.
By the time I hobbled up to the peak it was getting late. There was a bathroom and water fountain by the parking lot about a mile from the shelter, so we took advantage of that.
The shelter up here is very nice, but I had to set up my tent or the water would start to mildew inside of it. This is by far the highest point we've camped at, and it should be quite cold. We're back in evergreen territory up here, so it smells like Christmas again.
Today thoroughly kicked my ass, quads, calfs, and feet. Just when you think you're an old hat at this sort of thing they throw a mountain in your path! It's amusing that this has been our second longest hike, our longest being over Clingman's Dome. Clingman's is the highest point on the trail, and Roan is the second highest we've reached (maybe even second highest on the trail), so we really need to start planning our longer hikes on days that aren't the most difficult.
I've been moving slowly around camp tonight, but managed to force down some cold dinner and get everything organized and hung. Tomorrow is the downhill, and I'm sure my knees will be taught a valuable lesson (don't hike over a mountain). At least it's supposed to be sunny for a few days, and my shoes can finally dry out tomorrow morning.
Not much else to report on other than my final state of exhaustion, and my fear of blisters from wet socks. Tomorrow I'll take better care of myself, and tonight I will sleep like the dead (as I must have looked on my last lumbering steps up this mountain).
