Day 30 - Wind & Rain (May 8)

We started the day going over two more balds at elevations of about 5,500 feet. The scenery was spectacularly beautiful. The wind was intense. The wind kept knocking me off balance. It made my hiking poles swing out at about 45 degrees. It started to get a little scary so I quickened my pace off. Wind quit as soon as we got off the balds.

I saw a sign on one of the balds about a forest service person who helped bring the trail over Roan mountain. I'm guessing he used the trail to help protect this forest.

I met Pathfinder at the next shelter, which I think was called Applehouse or something like that. I was thinking about food, and whether mashed potatoes would go well with roman noodles (which I did not have). At that very moment, Pathfinder offered me the roman noodles he found at the shelter. We decided that I should about pizzas, but we could not make the magic work again.

I stopped at a beautiful waterfall (Jones Falls) on the way to tonight,s shelter. I sat there for quite a while watching the maples seeds float to the ground. John, one of Pathfinder's friends was there when I arrived, but left soon after.

When I got to the next shelter, Pathfinder was looking for John. I told him that he left the falls before I did, and I did not see him on the trail. Pathfinder moved on looking for John. John showed up later. He said he walked the wrong direction from the falls. He left trying to catch up to Pathfinder. Its raining very hard. I hope they found each other.

I met a section hiker named Stinger at this shelter. He completed the entire trail in 2006. He took my picture, and said he will post it on his trail journal at http://www.trailjournals.com/. He said it will be under Stinger.

We did 19 miles today. We were hoping to get in another 5, but its raining very hard now. We decided to stay the night. Everyone else at the shelter want to get up very early so that will work for us. We have 15 miles to the hostile. Fifteen miles is now considered a relatively easy day.

It seems that Thought Food and I are putting in what many consider high mileage days. I was talking to Easy Does It this afternoon. He knows Stranger from off the trail. He was talking about injuries Stranger and others have from the mileage. Thought Foot and I get up early, take our time, stop often for breaks, and hike until near dark. We both feel good, and always stop if we feel tired or sore. So far our system has worked well for us.