View from top of Roan Mountain
Starting mile 357.9
I got going about 7 am knowing I was going to have a long day. I was hoping to get up to the top of Roan Mountain. When I got half a mile to the top of Unika Mountain I ran into “Bull”. I hadn’t seen her since Franklin. If I had known she was there I would have climbed up there yesterday. She has been doing great since I last saw her. She was taking it easy for a few days because she has a reservation at a hotel. I said goodbye after talking for a while and headed down the trail.
After about 2.5 miles I encountered my first big reroute from Hurricane Helene. It took me off the trail for 5.8 miles. My miles and elevation at the end will be ‘about’ because I’m not exactly sure what I did.
The reroute wasn’t that bad except for the couple pointless ups and downs. As I was making the final steep climb, I ran into a couple of section hikers coming the other way. They kindly let me know I was almost there. Unlike other South bounders they were telling the truth. When I got to the top there was water, so I stopped to refill my water and eat a little bit.
I still had a long way, so I didn’t take very long. The next few hours flew by with minimal elevation gain, but I knew I still had a 3,000-foot climb coming at the end of the day. I made it to the bottom of Roan Mountain by 2 pm, which was my goal.
Now the fun began. I had to climb the big mountain. I started up slowly but soon found that the trail was well graded. I was able to keep moving up the mountain. When I got halfway up it was only 4 pm so I was making great time. Only halfway to go. It got a bit steeper as I got closer to the top. I got to the summit just after 6 pm.
I started looking for somewhere to hang my hammock. As I looked around everything was densely packed with pine trees. There was nowhere to hang so I just kept moving. As I started down the mountain, I kept looking for somewhere to spend the night. There was nothing and I was getting tired. I kept trudging down. Next thing I know I started hearing cars on the road. I check my map and notice that I was close to road, so I just head down to the parking lot.
I eventually found a place to hang my hammock. I put my tarp up in case it rained and crawled in. I’m too tired to even about making supper. I ended up hiking about 22.9 miles with 5,500 feet of elevation gain. It was a tiring day.
Ending mile 380.8