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Ten Degrees and Getting Colder

  Cold Sunrise   That's just the name of the song written by Gordon Lightfoot.  It was actually -13 F when I got up this morning (wind chill -24).  Tucson may have pulled back into the lead!  There's a lot of weighing pros and cons of Colorado vs Arizona by the wood stove.  Not much else to report. I did enjoy a few games of pool and a beer with my brother this week.  We don't get together very often, so it's good to try to keep the lines of communication open, especially with my mother celebrating her 86th birthday next month.  He lives in Milwaukee and just started semi-retirement.  Our opposing politics and lifestyles keep things very casual and surface-level.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.   It's important to find common ground.  He and his wife have started going to concerts and recently saw the Steve Miller Band.  Music is one of our common interests.      
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Back in the Roan Highlands


Almost no campsite is perfect.  My campsite at Roan Mountain is nearly perfect, except for a streetlight right at its edge.  As a result, I slept poorly, even though the babbling brook put me right to sleep.  Black-out curtains would fix the glaring light, but it’s rarely a problem where I camp, so I’ve got thin white curtains that don’t keep out the bright streetlights.

We were up early enough to snag one of the limited parking spots at Carver’s Gap, which is the trailhead for going southbound to High Knob (the highest shelter on the Appalachian Trail) or for going northbound across several balds to the Stan Murray Shelter.

Hungry for views, Callie and I climbed up the pine forest, taking in the wonderful smell.  Well, I was breathing pine; Callie was probably scenting squirrels, birds, and snakes.


The contrast with the ice-covered trail from the spring of 2018 was amazing.  With a light breeze and pleasant temperatures in the low 70’s, hiking conditions were perfect.  One of the reasons I love the Roan Highlands is that there are expansive views as a reward for making it to the top.



Later, the trail plunges down through thick forest and overgrown bushes. There must have been a few nettles because my arms were on fire for awhile.  We hiked to the Stan Murray Shelter and back again–about 7 miles round trip.  In each shelter, there is supposed to be a notebook for thru-hikers and other visitors to sign in.  Some people write long passages detailing their hikes, hopes and dreams, etc.  During my thru- hike, I rarely wrote much more than my trail name, so that people I knew behind me could see that I was still on the trail.

This time, I signed for both my thru-hike in 1996 and my short hike that day.

Quid Pro Quo, GA>ME ’96, Carvers Gap to Stan Murray Shelter, ’19.


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