Roan Highlands to Damascus

There are few things more pleasant than being somewhere warm, dry and comfortable on a gloomy snowy day, looking out at the snow swirling past and knowing you don’t have to go out in it.

So it was for our rest day. But after a full day of doing absolutely nothing, we were keen to get back on the trail, in spite of the next day’s  weather forecast being only marginally better. So the next morning we packed our rucksacks, ate some breakfast, and Robert the hostel owner drove us back to Hughes Gap, where we had come off trail. There, at 4000 feet elevation, it was cold and grey but dry, with patchy snow lying on the ground, and beautiful spiky frost on the trees.  But we had a 6270 feet high mountain to go over, and as we climbed, the lying snow got deeper, and fresh snow began to fall. In amongst the trees we were mostly sheltered from the wind, and as long as we didn’t stop for more than 5 minutes we stayed warm enough.

Finally we reached Roan High Knob shelter, the highest shelter on the AT, and the first one we had seen which had four walls and a door! Tiny footprints in the snow outside showed it had provided shelter to some mice as well as hikers. With the mountain thickly cloaked in trees we didn’t get any views, so after a quick snack we hurried off downhill.

The next mountains to climb were Round Bald and Jane Bald. These tops were bare of trees but were in thick fog. The cold wind blasted across the snowy hillsides, and the trail was either semi-frozen mud or ice-coated bedrock – really hard going! On we went to the Stan Murray shelter, where we caught up with Nope, a hiker we’ve met a few times before, who has the most extraordinary taste in clothing. On this freezing cold day he was wearing his usual “I’m DEAF not DUMB” hat, black fishnet top, pink leather jacket, short skirt and knee length pink and purple socks. Each to their own. He told us he wasn’t cold!

Next up was Bradley Gap, possibly the longest treeless stretch of trail yet. An icy wind buffeted us as we hiked across the broad gap, making it hard to walk in a straight line. Each bramble and blade of grass carried a half-inch flag of hoar frost. From there it felt like an interminable climb up onto Hump Mountain, sweating inside my waterproofs while my face went numb in the cold wind. With the view hidden in fog we didn’t hang around at the top.

We had a provisional plan to camp at the tenting site of Doll Flats on the North Carolina – Tennessee border, but when we got there it was covered in snow. That morning Robert had told us there was cell phone coverage there, and that if we wanted a lift back to his hostel from the next road crossing, all we had to do was call. So, the choice was whether to put up the tent, cook dinner and hang food in the freezing cold, or hike 3 miles downhill for hot showers, good food and warm beds. At the end of a gruelling 21 mile day, there was little debate over what was the better option!

The next day was cold and sunny, one of those glorious mornings after a storm has gone through. The trail took us through meadows and woods and past waterfalls. There was even trail magic at a road junction, two guys laying out snacks and sodas and inviting passing hikers to help themselves. We met lots of hikers we knew, and it was great to catch up on how everyone had dealt with the storm! Everyone had got off trail for the first night of the storm, with lots of people choosing to “slackpack” – leaving their camping gear at a hostel, and hiking a section of trail with just a daypack before getting a lift back to their hostel. Not us, we’re too purist for that!

Since then, we’ve put in some long days. We worked out we need to cover an average of about 100 miles a week to get finished in time, and we’re a bit behind at present, because we deliberately started with lower mileage days to ease ourselves into the hike. So we’ve managed a few days of over 20 miles. It’s been hard going, made harder by leaving it a bit too long before replacing our shoes. We both started with Hoka Speedgoat trail shoes; Neil’s had basically collapsed inwards because of his wonky gait, while mine had started crushing in on my bunions / big toes on both feet. Painful, but instead of properly patching my feet I just took some ibuprofen and carried on. I should know better! We couldn’t wait to get to Damascus, where Neil had new shoes waiting at the post office, and where I could get to an outfitters to try some different shoes.