april 25-27 - big bald, mtn harbour, kincora

The morning of april 25 was a cold one. Coldest its been iin a while. According to one persons thermometer it was 28 degrees. And a water bottle that someone had left outside the shelter was frozen. I took my time getting out of the shelter, wanting to stay in my sleeping bag while the sun raised the temp a little bit. I ate a cold breakfast of poptarts then started my hike. The trail down from roan mountain was some of the best terrain ive seen so far. It was a very dense spruce forest. So dense that little sunlight reached the forest floor. There were streams running down the mountain, and a light mist in the air from the rain that fell during the night. The ground was carpeted with small spruce needles, and anything that wasnt a tree or the trail had a layer of fuzzy green moss on it. It reminded me of videos ive seen of northern rain forests. And its probably my favorite type of terrain to hike through. The rest of the day took me over high grassy balds, with views to the mountains far off on the horizon. It was very windy so i didnt stop much, except on the top of the highest bald with guru, twigs, and starface. I stopped earlier for lunch near one of the shelters, and starface told me she planned to play frisbee on top of the highest bald. It was too windy to play so we just chilled for a few minutes before continuing. I was in the lead for the rest of the day until about 2 miles before the shelter. My knee began to hurt very badly so i let the others pass me while i hiked along slowly. I took an ibuprofen which helped alot, but i still needed to slow down. I eventually caught up to the others at the last campsite before the road to roan and elk park. I got a fire going and cooked my dinner. We hung out by the fire for a while, then went to sleep. .............. April 26 i woke up to the sound of the others packing up. They planned to go to roan to get breakfast. I wasnt in much of a hurry so i took my time. I wanted to get to the mountain harbor hostel and try to work for stay. I called ahead and was told the hostel was full but that there were tent spots available. It was less than half a mile to the road so it didnt take long to get there. When i got there, mary, the owner, greeted me. I asked if i can work for a load of laundry and a shower instead. She had me paint the door to the garage, and some of the bridge on the property. After that i gave my laundry to her husband, terry, to wash. Then i took a shower, then hitchhiked to town to get food for lunch. I cooked when i got back to the hostel and met grizzly, an older hiker who was staying at the hostel. I hung around the hostel until 3pm then started the 9 mile hike to the next shelter. It took about 5 hours to get to the shelter. I took a long break on the way. I wasnt in much of a hurry anyways so i took my time. The shelter was full but the hikers moved over and made some space for me. Rain was forecasted for overnight and the next day so i was reluctant to tent that night. I was also planning to take a zero day in the morning instead of hiking in the rain. There was a big fire going, and i was hoping for a fire in the morning as well so i put a few bigger logs on before going to bed. ................. I woke up at about 5am on april 27. Quaker was already awake and getting ready to hit the trail. He hikes slowly so he wakes up early. I was feeling a bit nauseous and i had to pee. I didnt want to go back to sleep while feeling nauseous. Just in case i was getting the virus, i didnt want to throw up in the shelter in my sleeping bag. so to pass the time i rekindled the fire from the few coals that were left. I got a big fire going, put some big logs on top, then, feeling a little better, went back to sleep. The rest of the hikers all woke up around 730am. I stayed in my sleeping bag until the last hiker left. Everyone is always in such a hurry, yet we end up at the same place at the end of the day. I got out of my sleeping bag at about 830. Artemis gordon, another hiker, was still there. He was camped nearby, and was taking a zero day for his knee. We hung out by the fire, i made a hot breakfast of oatmeal with chocolate protein powder. I finally started hiking around 1030am. I was moving pretty quick. It hadnt rained during the night so i was hoping to finish the day bgefore the rain started. I wasnt that lucky though, and the rain started about halfway through the day. It was a longer day, about 16 miles, but the end point was the kincora hostel, one of the most well known hostels on the trail. I caught up to quaker about 10 miles in at the next shelter. I stopped and ate a snack, he gave me a snickers and a protein bar so i ate some more. I had planned to take a 15 minute break but stayed there for 40 minutes. Then i continued the last 6 miles to the hostel. The hostel was full when i got there, but there was still a couch open. I had also missed the shuttle to town so i got food out of the hiker box to make for dinner. I hung out with the other hikers and finally got to sleep once everyone else did. The couch was in the living room which was the same room as the kitchen. Some hikers were planning on slackpacking the next day, but i wanted to take a zero.