Cloudland

Roan High Knob Shelter, the highest shelter on the AT. It used to be where the fire warden of Roan Mountain lived until the 1940s.

Today was only a 5 mile hike, but it took us almost 5 hours, which should tell you something about the terrain. The hike was up Roan Mountain, one of the tallest peaks in the southern Appalachians, and it included a 2,000+ foot climb over about 3 miles. Trust me, that's a lot of hill to walk up. We passed a couple groups of hikers going the other way (they looked like middle to high school aged kids from a summer camp, all with matching packs) who seemed surprised that we were hiking up Roan Mountain instead of down it. No pain, no gain, though. It was much cooler today, which made things more bearable. And the views at the top were absolutely worth the effort.

Roan Mountain summit.

Very cool interesting fact - the summit of Roan Mountain used to be the sight of the luxury resort "The Cloudland Hotel" back in the 1800s. People would flock to the mountaintop by railroad and horse and buggy for the pleasant atmosphere and to escape hay fever. The hotel had carpet, huge fireplaces, copper bathtubs, three meals a day, bowling, croquet and a wrap-around porch, all for $2 per day. Now that's a deal. If it still existed, it would be the best AT shelter in existence. Unfortunately, it was torn down to make room for forestry, and now all that's left is the ruins of the hotel's foundation.

Sign with pictures of the Cloudland Hotel in its glory days.

All that remains of the Cloudland. We got done relatively early today, so we took Mamma and Trail Sister up to the top of the mountain (you can drive up it too) to see the ruins.

It was nice to have a shorter day, even if it was very strenuous hiking. We all drove up to the top of the mountain together and walked around for a bit. There are rhododendron gardens at the summit, full of rare Catabwa Rhododendron, which have a much later blooming season and a much brighter color than other rhododendrons. They only bloom for 4 days, and we were here just in time to see the end of the bloom. What luck.

The Dowdy girls in front of a famous Catabwa Rhododendron.

Quote of the Day: "Hey, this is going to sound really strange, but...you wouldn't happen to have a can opener, would you?" - Random Hiker Dad at the shelter. He and his dad and his son (3 generations...cool) were out hiking with 100+ pounds of gear for 2 days, and apparently had canned food. And nothing to open it with. We found them later after we got to the RV and gave them one.