Tuesday, June 2 9:03 pm 25.2 mi
Roan Highlands
AT 386.1 Overmountain → AT 411.3 Unofficial Tentsite
Weather: Cool, windy, walking through the clouds morning, hot and sunny rest of the day
Trail Conditions: Just when I think nothing can top the views from the previous day. Top down view of Overmountain, Hump Mountain and Little Hump...wow! Pretty smooth trail today
My Condition: The dogs are barking tonight! Sore feet – have my heels and the balls of my feet all taped up. Might be too late for the heels – I think there’s some blistering. Made it through today ok though and it’s already covered, so I’ll clean it and deal with it at Boots Off tomorrow
Hikers Met: Lift Off
Awesome, albeit long, day today. Hiked with Mountain Sage for a while heading up Little Hump and Hump Mountain. Turns out this is his fourth time hiking the AT! Asked if he ever thinks about doing the other long trails, and he said yes, but with Parkinson’s it’s best to control the variables he can and stick with the logistics he knows. He also put it this way – when you go to church, do you go to a different church each time you worship? He has fond memories of camping atop Little Hump mountain where he had a clear night but he watched storms roll over the distant peaks from atop his lofty perch. He has a deep familiarity with the trail and enjoys seeing familiar faces at hostels. I generally make some good time and tend to pass way more folks than pass me, and I eat climbs for lunch once my body is loose, but he outpaced me up the mountain and once he got ahead I never saw him again until I passed by his campsite. Hit mile 400 today! Camped with 3 other people tonight – a German called Lift Off, a guy from Alpharetta, GA, and a guy from New Jersey. When they asked where I was coming from today and I told them Overmountain more than 25 miles back, their eyes all seemed to pop out of their heads. They asked if I had a trail name yet, and laughed when I said no. “Too Fast” they suggested, since I’m flying past anyone who might name me.
Post Trail Analysis
Thanks to Fixing My Feet, I came in to the trail quite ready to properly tape my feet. Tincture of Benzoin, which sounds like an alien substance, is a backcountry first aid necessity in my opinion. Not only can it be used for field dressings if necessary, it is GREAT for taping your feet. The substance, although it can be messy, leaves skin quite tacky and makes for an incredible adhesion point. In short, if you’ve got wet, sweaty feet that tend to shed taping, this will eliminate your problem. The only downside is that once your feet are taped, they’re taped – if you try to peel it off to check on blisters underneath, there’s a very good chance you’re taking a lot of skin with it! It does come off eventually, usually with a long shower and some soap. From atop Little Hump, you are able to see Grandfather Mountain off in the distance. I don’t know that I intended the day’s hiking to run so long, but I remember the last couple miles winding through lowland rhododendron thickets bordering a creek. In a pinch I could have camped somewhere along the banks, but it would be a damp night for certain. I kept going, hoping for a good stealth spot somewhere. Daylight quickly dwindling, I came across the three guys camped around a fire and asked if they had space for one more tent.
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