Wednesday/Thursday

So, remember the rain storm I was hiking in for a couple of days?
Well, up on Roan mountain, it wasn't a rainstorm. I hiked 16 miles
yesterday through an absolute winter wonderland. It was stunningly
beautiful and absolutely treacherous all at the same time. The sun was
out so it was already melting the snow in the tops of the spruce tree
that encompassed the mountain. This was interesting because it was
raining chunks of ice and snow water all over me. The ground was a
combination of ice patches, slushy snow, and deep mud. It also has
about 50 false summits so you never felt like you were getting
anywhere. I finally got up and over the mountain to enter into the
Roan Highlands. I also got to sleep on a barn! How cool is that??? I
have always wanted to sleep in a big red barn. It came with a high
price though. Because it was so big, it held a LOT of hikers. That
only means one thing. Lots of loud snoring and farting. Seriously.

Today I hiked 18.3 miles over the most fabulous grassy balds. It was
incredible.... Views for miles and miles. The Roan Highlands are
everything I heard about and more. It was like walking from winter
yesterday, into a lovely spring day today. And I am back in my tent,
which I have been carrying around soaking wet for 3 days. It's a
little funky in here. And still wet. I am hoping it dries out
overnight but I am not holding my breath. Or maybe I should?