Looks easy doesn't it?
Ash Gap Campsite to Mountain Harbor B&B 17 Miles
My brothers left out of the camp early. They knew it would be a long day. We had a thousand-foot climb in a short distance up Roan Mountain and I had heard it was going to be rough. It wasn’t that bad; but while I was running down the hill from Roan Mountain to Carver Gap, my GPS fell off. We had taken a break at the Carver Gap Sign and that’s when I noticed my GPS was missing from it’s clip on my shoulder strap. I hiked all the way back up Roan Mountain looking for it because I had remembered glancing at it just as I passed the turn off for the Roan Mountain Shelter. I scoured the trailsides and never found the bastard. It seems sadly ironic to lose a GPS. This is the second one in as many months. I am so PISSED at myself! Now we aren’t going to be able to track our progress unless I can find a way to buy another GPS. We don’t have the funds to be able to do that right now so I guess we won’t be GPS logging anymore. It really hurt to lose that thing. I’m pretty upset we can’t track our trip on the website anymore. Oh well, I just gotta forget about it; find Acceptance… UGH! DAMNIT!
Earlier in the week, everyone was talking about how tough Roan Mountain was going to be and although it wasn’t easy, it really wasn’t all that bad. That’s probably because we did it in the morning. I’ll bet most people try to do it at the end of a long day so they can stay in Roan Mountain Shelter. I’m kind of pissed because nobody mentioned “The Humps.” Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain NEARLY KILLED ME! Little Hump came first, I was bonking as I climbed the sunny slope and I knew I was getting low on water; then, I saw Hump Mountain and I was just not ready, not worthy. I was bolstered temporarily by the sight of Rolex and Cyclone climbing through the long, waving grasses of Hump Mountain, about a half of a mile ahead of me. I thought they might stop at the top and wait for me.
Hump and Little Hump are both balds, so there is no cover from the sun, no trees anywhere and on this day, lots of sun and wind. The wind kept knocking me off balance and the sun was beating down. It was some of the toughest hiking yet. I bonked near the top of Hump Mountain but kept pushing. As I crested the top, I saw to my horror that my brothers had kept going and were still out of vocal range. Discouraged, I had to collapse for a while. I took off all of my clothes except for my underwear and I just lay there at the top of the grassy peak. Some SoBo came cruising past in the skimpiest shorts I have ever seen a man wear. Through my delirium, I began to get uncomfortable that I was laying there in my underwear and I’m glad he didn’t stop to talk. Maybe he was feeling the same way about some guy lying spread-eagle with unfocused eyes, in his sweat-soaked undies.
I managed to get back up and continue on. Shortly thereafter, I completely ran out of water with no water sources for six miles. I tried everything, I blew into the Camelbak to try and get a few drops more. I didn’t have the SteriPen, so I couldn’t purify any ground water even if I had found a good source. It was looking bad. I knew that Cyclone and Rolex were getting further and further ahead of me and I had no way to communicate with them that I needed water. I was having visions of dying of thirst and passing out and rolling down some cliff to my final resting place.
In my daze, I missed a turn and went about a mile in the wrong direction down a steep trail. Finally realizing my mistake as there weren’t any blazes, I balked at having to climb back up the hill I had just come down. My throat was sandpaper and my stomach was quivering from exhaustion. I found where I had missed the turn and in retrospect it seemed so obvious. I was angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake at such a critical time.
I kept trudging along. I wanted to kill my brothers for not waiting. As I finally got down to the end of my endurance, there was a stream alongside the trail. It didn’t look very clean and I almost tripped over an unfamiliar nalgene bottle (it was Levi’s Bottle that Cyclone had found earlier) in the middle of the trail with a note on it. It was from my brothers and it was full of clean water that Cyclone and Rolex had left for me since they had the purification equipment. I gulped the whole liter of water down in about three seconds and then I almost threw it back up. The note said that they were going in to the hostel and I dragged my sorry, dehydrated ass down to the road. I wasn’t sure where to find the Mountain Harbor Bed & Breakfast and Hostel. I took a guess and went left down the road. It was there, about a half mile down the road and it was wonderful! I collapsed on the grass next to Rolex and he informed me I had to jump up and get a shower if I was going to make the shuttle for dinner.
There were a few other hikers there: “Never the Same”, “Always Changing” and “Haha” had come in with Cyclone and Rolex. I met Tyler, a young boy who is living there with his Aunt and Uncle who own the place. They took us to some restaurant for dinner and then we came back to the barn, played some guitar, had a meeting, pet the horses and I set up my hammock nearby. It’s a really cool place and I hear the breakfast is amazing. I can’t wait. I really needed that meeting too. We talked about page 86. I didn’t realize how much I had needed that! Life is good again!
My trail name has changed as well. It turns out there is already a Jukebox on the trail. Someone flamed me in an email that I have been confusing people by posting as Jukebox on Trailjournals.com so I mentioned that I would have to change my trail name. Later, I was discussing my negative demeanor toward my brothers on the trail and I said something like, “If I wasn’t in so much pain all the time, I’d be Mister F***ing Gentle Spirit!” Always Changing said, “that’s your new trail name, Mr. F***ing Gentle Spirit.” I think it’s going to stick. It describes me pretty well.
David AKA "Mister F. Gentle Spirit"
Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com
