May 15 Mile 388

Heard coyotes howling during the night. As well as the owls hooting. All pretty cool. At 3 AM Cisco and I got up and did some star gazing as the storms all cleared out. Picked out about 6 constellations. The sky was a little murky cause of the weather. Woke around 6AM and hiked out about 7:30AM. The morning was beatiful and cool and we hiked up- the few miles up today afforded us some if the most breathtaking scenery of the entire hike thus far. We went over several very large balds- I think these are the biggest on the trail. These balds are huge grass areas that cover the entire mountain top and the views are stunning. We paused a good bit to take it all in- which was ok cause we had a short day planned- only about 9 miles to a hostel-Mountain Harbor-near Elk Park. Got here around 2:00PM and did the usual. Pretty tired. And both knees were aching- perhaps it was all he downhills to get here-2700 ft down in just a few miles. Lots of rocks to go over on the way down. Got to the hostel- Mountain Harbor- very nice and clean. Staying in their RV. Also they have a barn for hikers. Got resupplied and went for a great steak dinner nearby. Rained really hard this afternoon. Glad we were at the hostel. The owner said it was the first thunderstorm on the season. I guess we'll be seeing plenty more
If you like to hike for a few days and camp, Roan Mtns is definitely the place to come to- 24 beautiful miles. Lots of place s to park and then hike up. You should see it north to south, however. The views unfold much better I think and the climb is far easier . Well its past hiker's midnight-that's sunset, so time for bed.
Only 75 miles to Damascus!