Started later than I wanted to - 8:30 - but figured I would be ok for the 15 mile day. One of the guys who slept in the shelter last night puked this morning. Hope that if he had the hiker virus he did not pass it along in the night.
Pretty hard day today - lots of climbing on rocks at first (which leads to excellent views); then Roan Mountain; then 3 balds and the shelter.
Saw two trail maintainers painting white blazes on trees. Such an important task! They were super friendly and glad to be out on such a pretty day.
The guide said after summitting Roan Mountain to be careful not to miss the AT turn off the (very rocky) fire road. I was really nervous that I was going to miss it. At one point I saw a rock that had blazes on it, and what looked like a trail leading down. But there were several trees piled up on the trail, and I thought it might have been an old marker. Kept going, and saw the "real" turnoff about half a mile later.
Scared the crap out of a older guy near the Carver Gap parking lot. I'm not sure what he was doing, but he must have thought he was out there all alone. When I showed up he was visibly shaken and said I scared him. (!?) I wasn't really scared - his family was in a truck in the parking lot and they looked normal - but it was a little weird and I was very glad to see Otto & DumpTruck pull up. (They are slackpacking CleverGirl & crew while DumpTruck recovers from dislocating his shoulder). It was just nice to have people I know close by.
About a mile before the shelter, a deer crossed the trail in front of me. Pretty neat!
The shelter is pretty cool - it is an old barn renovated into a 20 person shelter. OWL is here; so are Whole Bean, UV, Rusty, and Toast. We are sleeping in the hay loft!
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