June 19th: Over the 6,000' elevation mark, Ironman Earl, Water shortages, and Bees

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What a day! Started out early with overcast skies walking out of Doll Flats at
7:50AM. We had a 1,037' climb right out of camp to top Hump Mtn @ 5,587'.
Started out in an old pasture gone fallow, no rain last night so our boots
stayed dry. The clouds looked threatening but no rain or thunder. Old hardwoods
were lining the edge of the field like soldiers on watch - tall, straight and
strong looking. The majority of the mountain could be seen just before entering
the forest. The direction the trail took it seemed we would slowly ascend the
north shoulder and not have to climb over the very top. Trail designers can be
evil people at times. We climbed gradually up and up until we broke out of the
trees into the highlands again. Like Grayson, these highlands looked much like
Scotland. Sparse low trees and shrubs with tall grass filled meadows along the
spines of the ridges. We could see the trail do a 180 degree turn heading
straight up to the top of Hump Mtn.
Earl had left camp 10 minutes ahead of us. He is 77 years old and to use old
western terms "he is a tall lean drink of water." Long legs and little fat
anywhere on his body. When we broke into the clear, Earl was a white and blue
speck almost 3/4 mile above us pressing on. We were amazed at his speed. A NoBo
hiker came down the mtn and we asked him how Earl looked as they passed. He
could only repeat "can you believe that guy is 77?" We chased him until almost
11AM when we went down to look at the Overmountain Shelter. Earl had stopped for
water and we passed him without seeing him on the trail to the shelter, we
caught him on the way out.
The Overmountain Shelter is an old converted red barn. Sleeping pallets and a
picnic table were on the ground level looking down a long green valley into
North Carolina. The hay loft had two benches along the sides with the rest of
the floor open for sleeping. The barn was about 20'x50' in size. After
inspecting it and a couple of pictures we headed the .2 mile back up to the
trail where we had left our packs. Met Earl on the way up so we walked the rest
of the way with him. In the short time it took us to ruck up, Ironman was out of
sight going up the next hill. We had planned to stop for lunch at the Stan
Murray Shelter, this is where we caught up to Ironman. We did our normal 15
minute break and ate. As we were getting up to go, the Boy Scout Troop who had
been getting water at Doll Flats when we arrived walked up to the shelter. They
had been getting water where Earl had and we had passed them. Earl said he was
staying longer and resting as his legs had been cramping the last mile or so. We headed up the ever present mountain to Grassy Ridge,
another 1,000' climb. Along the way we met a group of young Mennonite folks from
a nearby camp. Some of the younger camper’s packs were taller than them. They
told us the flowers on Jane Bald were just beautiful.
Nearing the top we entered an area with low Rhodies, Blackberry bushes and
Flame Azaleas blooming with pine intermixed. Music of Honey Bees bouncing from
flower to flower filled the air. We had finally found an area with real bees and
they were buzzing everywhere. Coming out onto the bald the flowers for the most
part had just passed prime, but unless you looked real close and saw the wilted
ones, the colors were magnificent. Lavender, pink and white rhodies; orange, red
and yellow azaleas; dark green balsum pine; and green, lush grass meadows made for
quite the panorama. The sun had come out completing the picture.
We had hoped to get water at Carver's Gap parking area before heading up to the
Roan High Knob Shelter. The spring was dry as a bone. We headed up hoping there
would be water in the shelter spring. Leaving the parking lot we could see the
afternoon thunder storm bearing down on the mountain top. It would be a race.
Could we make the 1.5 miles and 760' climb to the safety of the shelter before
it started to pour? We did our best but it wasn't good enough, about 1,500'
short of the shelter we had to put the pack covers and our rain jackets on as
the rain was getting serious. We didn't get too wet though. Rain came down
sideways as we sat on the covered porch talking about our next move. We had
planned to eat supper here and then try to get a mile or two more and cut the
15.2 mile day tomorrow down a bit. This storm changed that plan real quick. The
Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest one on the AT, sitting at 6,285'. We were
in the thunderhead! Lightning cracked and thunder roared overhead, trees shook the rain off like wet dogs. We weren't going
anywhere soon. We decided to wait out the rain. As there was no water at the
shelter spring, I will have to walk 3/4 mile down to the parking/picnic area for
water. 45 minutes after we arrived in the shelter here came Ironman Earl up the
trail soaked to the skin, cotton T-shirt, cotton hiking shorts and cotton socks
and a cotton ball cap all dripping water. We told him about the water and he
said he would walk down with me so he could get some also.
10 minutes later it slacked off and Earl and I headed down the mountain with
rain jackets on and water containers. He had a few problems navigating the
trail. At a couple of spots he had to stop due to leg cramps. Down and back in
40 minutes. We cooked our supper and Earl did his. The temp was dropping and the
wind was still blowing with rain off and on. We did not notice that Earl was
starting to shiver. By the time we noticed the hypothermia it was to the point
Earl could not even hold his coffee cup. CC and I had to take aggressive action.
We got him to change out of his wet stuff into his dry things and get into his
sleeping bag while I made him some hot tea and a hot water bottle for his bag.
An hour or so later the weather had abated and Earl was warm enough to come
out on the porch for a second cup of tea. The wind had slowed down and two
troops of Boy Scouts were setting up their tents in the rain. As the mountain
fell into darkness, the thunder started along with the rain as everyone settled
into their sleeping bags for the night. It had been a long day and we had managed
to walk 12.4 miles


Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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