Appalachian Trail Hike Week 8: Roan Highlands, Rain, & Renewed Motivation

Thinking about an Appalachian Trail thru-hike? Or maybe you’re just looking to get an idea of what it’s like? Then you’ve come to the right place!

Hi! I’m Cindy. In 2022, my husband, Barrett, and I completed an Appalachian Trail thru-hike! 🥳

I journaled daily while on trail and plan to have our entire AT thru-hike tale up on this website for anyone who may be interested in reading it!

🔗 If you would like to start at the beginning, with week one 👉 click here.

🔗 And you can find all the weekly journals 👉 here.

Just know that if you plan to tackle an AT thru-hike, you’ll be in for an incredible adventure!

Also, if you know us as flip-floppers, we don’t know at this point that we will be flip-flop thru-hikers (more on that soon). When we started, we had conducted months of research. We chose to begin our Appalachian Trail hike NOBO, in Georgia, in April.

(We now know that starting as Flip Floppers or in March would have fit us better. But that’s for a later post.)

Just know that when picking a route for the Appalachian Trail, you can always change it up anytime!
👉 Click here for tips on where and when to start an Appalachian Trail Thru Hike. 👈
👉 And click here for advice on thru-hiking backpacking gear. 👈

Alrighty! Welcome back to my Appalachian Trail thru-hike journal series!

This is week eight of our Appalachian Trail hike, where we cross the 400-mile mark, say goodbye to North Carolina for good, and are officially starting to find our rhythm as thru-hikers. The days are getting longer, the weather keeps testing us, and we begin to understand more of the mental challenges wrapped up in this journey.

This week brought endless rain, the beauty of the Roan Highlands (finally, with actual views!), and some major milestones — including accepting a trail name, unforgettable trail magic, and a renewed determination to keep pushing north despite the soggy chaos.

If you’re new here, you can start with week one of our Appalachian Trail thru-hike journals or catch up on past weeks here. Otherwise, let’s dive into week eight on the AT!

Curious what it’s actually like to spend months hiking the Appalachian Trail? Well, here’s week eight of our adventure:

Day 50

May 24, 2022

I had a brief moment of cheer when I woke up this morning. I can see from the notes and screenshots on my phone that I was apparently planning a future trip to Cinque Terre at 6:24 in the morning from the floor of our tent. 😹

But then I remembered I had no dry clothing and immediately became grumpy.

Ironically, despite almost every item we have with us being extensively drenched, we didn’t have any water this morning. (We talked about leaving our pots out overnight to collect water, but then forgot to do so in the mess of it all.)

So, no morning water or coffee kept the grumpy train rolling.

We woke up and moved along, convinced we had passed through the entire Roan Highlands.

A hiker even walked by us early in the am, saying, “How about those Highlands?!” She clearly loved them and had no idea we trekked through them yesterday and saw absolutely nothing.

But much to our surprise, there was still some leftover.

And while the weather was far from perfect on this day, we ended up getting the chance to take in some of the highlands after all!

First, we got to a wide-open hilly spot, where the fog was rushing across mostly bald hills that escalated into the clouds.

The fog moved fast, obscuring views, but then, occasionally, a break would open, revealing views that felt like they were just for us.

We could see more of what was around us on this day, including low, bushy trees that felt as if they belonged perhaps in a savanna.

Along the trail, there were scattered flat rock boulders that you could tell usually would elevate hikers to beautiful views. We approached one and looked out, but only saw mist and grass at the time.

The trail alternated between extensive open areas and brief, tiny, dense croppings of 15 to 20-foot-high trees.

Lastly, we arrived at Houston Ridge and had epic, undisturbed views.

We could finally see the highlands, and they were terrific. Barrett said they were his favorite part of the trail so far and that it felt like he was looking at international countryside.

What started as a cruddy, wet day without coffee turned into an absolutely stunning one!

Soon after that, we left North Carolina behind for good.

The trail scenery turned into lots of rocks and started looking like ancient ruins again.

For the last mile of the day, the trail got flat and easy, so I switched to my Crocs to let my feet breathe a bit. We also ran into a man (Joshua Tree) giving out Captain Morgan shots as trail magic. 😹🤷‍♀️ When in Rome!

Many hikers on the trail were excited to reach the upcoming B&B because of its breakfast. We’ve heard it described as both “legendary” and “iconic” within the last 24 hours.

When we arrived, we found out they also had a food truck for the evenings! So, that was pretty cool as well.

Other notes:

• While walking with my poles, one of them tapped a bird in the weeds, and he FREAKED out, flapping erratically out of the grass and squawking at me.
• I fell this day, a slow-motion fall to the mud, where my knees briefly tried to save me and then ultimately failed. For some reason, whenever Barrett falls, no one is around, but there always seems to be a witness when I fall. Today’s witness was Dr. Squatch, who was very kind and concerned.
• We had our first sips of Mountain Dew Hard Seltzer at the B&B.

We saw:

• A box turtle

• A bird hopped along the trail in front of us, not caring that we were there

• A toad
• A little snake, slithering through the water on the trail
• A few newts, including one ferociously thrashing an inchworm back and forth!

✔️ Length: 8.5 AT trail miles
✔️ Total Ascent: 1128′
✔️ Total Descent: 3368′
✔️ Total Grade: 530’/mi

Day 51

May 25, 2022

We spent today as a zero day at Mountain Harbour Bed and Breakfast.

While here, we had the “best” breakfast on the AT, which was pretty impressive, but was not very GF-friendly.

Still, I ate so much incredible homemade food and a few things I shouldn’t have. Hopefully, my body will hold it together. 🤞

• A local named Cindy took us to Dollar General for a resupply.
• We did another pack shakedown and shipped a bunch of stuff off to my mom. (We got rid of all our winter gear.)
• We did laundry twice. Once, we dried everything in our room. But then the room gave all of our things an odd aroma overnight. So then again, drying everything outside.

• We watched all of “The Wilds” Season 2 (not as good as season 1, IMO).

• I took another bath because:
  • 1) There was a bathtub!
  • 2) The first one upon arrival was not enough.

✔️ Length: 0 trail miles

Day 52

May 26, 2022

On this day, we woke up and headed downstairs to enjoy the “BEST” breakfast on the AT for the second morning in a row.

I found it better than the previous day, with a lot more protein options and fewer bready options. That said, both days, the breakfast was delicious!! It lives up to its reputation.

My favorite item was the tomato pie, and Barrett’s was the breakfast potatoes with brisket and cheese.

After that, we headed up to our room and packed up while enjoying some sweet 1990s Vevo jams on the Roku. The weather channel said we had a “gentle storm” to look forward to all day until about 5 pm, when it would turn into a rainstorm. And basically, they were spot on.

As we checked out, the lady at the B&B told us she thinks most of the rain is done. I smiled. She was being nice. But all three of us knew she was lying. 😹

Then we were back at it again.

The hike out of the B&B was unique. It was different than other hikes out of civilization in the past. We hiked uphill through a picturesque meadow, surrounded by blooming blackberry plants.

At the top, there was a meadow with mountains on both sides.

Then we went through a tiny patch of tall spruce pines again, with only needles on top. (I think they look like asparagus, with short spears coming out of the stalk.)

It was a very short stretch, and they were all in rows, looking like someone planted them just in this small spot many years ago.

We also passed the 400-mile mark on this day:

Then we entered a more jungle-like zone, with a wide assortment of trees, rhododendron, mountain laurel, and Jones Waterfall. There was also a riverbank we followed for a bit.

We hiked from about 10:30 to 4:30 because at 4:00ish, I briefly got radar and saw the heavy rain was coming. We huffed it to the next available spot, got the tent set up, and hunkered down —and boy, did it rain for the rest of the evening and into the following day.

✔️ Length: 8.6 AT trail miles
✔️ Total Ascent: 1974′
✔️ Total Descent: 1710′
✔️ Total Grade: 427’/mi

Day 53

May 27, 2022

I asked Barrett if he wanted to quit this morning. 😹 He said yes, but he’s not going to. I feel the same. Haha, oh good ol’ pride.

The thing is, we have one more brutal night of rain ahead, and then I believe we should have some good days again, and then we’ll remember why we’re doing this whole thing. But it really isn’t as much fun in the heavy rain.

For the first time, we woke up to a bit of a puddle in the corner of the tent. 😬

The moment the rain stopped, we saw we had a window until 2:00 pm. So we made coffee and started getting ready, hoping to put on as many miles as we could before 2.

Miraculously, I woke up to mostly dry leggings and a 75% dry hiking shirt. Barrett said the sun was out, but it’s just not hitting us where our tent is right now. So hopefully we should dry off pretty soon into our hike, except for our shoes, which I’m sure will be sploshed through mud all day.

We set up our tent at a camp spot right before a tame waterfall. Barrett got us water from it the evening before.

But once we started hiking today, it was the first thing we had to cross, and the rain from last night had made it raging!! I deeply regretted not starting the day in my Crocs. The shoes I kept dry all night were instantly soaked.

This day had a ton of stream crossings, cascading waterfalls, rhododendron, tall green trees with leaves only at the top, scattered pine, ferns, and oak trees. We also followed a raging river for a bit and got some beautiful mountain views.

I did have this thought at one point on this day: I’m pretty sure on days like this, it’s our collective stubbornness that’s going to get us to Maine.

On this day, we were moving, trying to get as far as possible before the evening’s storm.

We got to a shelter area we were considering stopping at. It looked like a dead tree war zone. We would have kept going, but my wet feet couldn’t take any more for the day. It took us quite a while to find a spot that seemed safe from being possibly squished to death by a falling tree.

We had dinner at an actual picnic table this evening with a new trail friend, Backtracker. It was lovely.

Also, we achieved a new milestone! 🎉 We were referred to as an “old couple” at dinner. And not due to any of our actions, just purely due to our looks and age. 😹

While we ate, I set up the tent sideways in the wind to dry out, which it did for the most part.

Then we set it up properly and jumped in right before it started pouring for the evening.

I can’t help but think, it feels like we’re switching into a new phase on trail.

At first, it was all about getting our bearings, survival, and understanding the trail; now it’s about kicking it up a notch and accomplishing this dang thing.

Realizing this switch has brought me both comfort and anxiety.

The reality of the time crunch of this whole thing settles in a bit more every day at this point. For some reason, the anxiety of it all really started setting in this evening. The vibes of everyone kicking it up in miles are real and all around us.

Once the sun set, a man with a very high level of energy arrived at the shelter with what we are guessing was either a mini-violin or a tin whistle. (We were already in our tent.)

The evening suddenly developed a Celtic Woman (on PBS) vibe. 

For those who don’t know, once the sun goes down, it’s generally quiet time on the trail. So this was some very high energy for 9:00 to 10:00 pm. 😹 I thought it was hilarious.

Barrett was a few minutes away from getting out of the tent and saying something, but luckily for us all, it ended, and we all drifted off to la-la land.

Throughout the evening and the next morning, gusts of wind would periodically blow through, knocking the lingering rainwater off the treetops onto our tent and the ground.

Also, a big tree fell in the middle of the night, as predicted.

Also, there was an exceptionally loud, close plane at one point. Barrett was convinced it was about to land on our tent.

✔️ Length: 9.8 AT trail miles
✔️ Total Ascent: 2255′
✔️ Total Descent: 1569′
✔️ Total Grade: 391’/mi

Day 54

May 28, 2022

We started this day on a mountain, in a cool, very foggy forest.

Today’s hike has been very green, with lots of ferns and rhododendron, similar to the past couple of days.

We came down to a road that we took to Black Bear to resupply. There was a river raging alongside the building. While there, we enjoyed pizza and watching people fish.

Then we followed a roaring river and entered the Pond Wilderness.

The area is a very cool gorge, and as we came to find out, it is also very popular! Especially around Memorial Day!

There was an epic waterfall and so many families! We likely encountered over 100 people on the hike today, including lots of kids and at least 10 dogs.

They were all commenting on how prepared we were for the weekend with our packs and poles. 😹 We definitely felt out of the AT bubble and into vacation-land.

There was also a wild part of the trail that paralleled the very high river.

It’s hard to see in this picture, but the trail is there in the rock, wrapping around to the left of the tall rock, directly next to the river:

Despite looking very calm in this photo, the water was ferociously deafening in this spot. We couldn’t hear each other at all.

There were some pretty interesting rock stairs on this day as well.

We did manage to find a spot by a spring to enjoy some beverages we bought at Black Bear all by ourselves at one point.

This whole zone reminded me a lot of the Linville Gorge, where we did our shakedown hike before starting the trail.

We ended the day on a brutal, long, directly up, endless hill climb in the sun. It seemed like the straightest up hiking we’d experienced yet.

It was a long day on our feet. We ended at a camp spot under lots of big trees, complete with logs to sit on for eating.

We’re really feeling the pressure to kick up the miles. After today, we are on a steady diet of 14-15-mile day attempts.

✔️ Length: 12 AT trail miles (+1 mile for resupply detour)
✔️ Total Ascent: 2931′
✔️ Total Descent: 3017′
✔️ Total Grade: 463’/mi

Day 55

May 29, 2022

We woke up at our nice, peaceful spot atop Pond Mountain all to ourselves. We drank coffee and packed up to 90s jams before moving onward.

This morning, I started adding up how much I use radar on the trail to help us and others, and how many decisions center around my use of it. It began to hit me that the trail name of “Radar” that Women’s Wear attempted to give me many, many miles ago was perhaps more fitting than I realized when he first said it.

Before starting our trek for the day, I googled Radar from MASH to see if that angle of the name would also be fitting, and found out he slept with a teddy bear! I also sleep with a teddy bear (LB, my trusty trail mascot) on the trail, so between that and how much I’ve helped others with the weather over the past week, I decided it’s solidified: I am accepting the name, and I am Radar.

We started the day hiking down Pond Mountain through an area that looked like it could be home to Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Then we ventured through pine trees and popped out to a view of Watauga Lake.

We enjoyed a brief snack at a picnic table, watching families enjoy the lake for the holiday weekend.

The trail wrapped around the lake and was flooded to above-knee level in parts. We changed into our Crocs and waded around the lake.

At one point, there was even a duck with ducklings floating on the trail!

Once we got to the back side of the lake, we saw some trail friends. They were “yogiing beers from the boats out for the holiday.”

They tried to convince us to stay and enjoy the day on the water with them, and I’m not lying when I say it took every ounce of strength I have to continue hiking.

The truth of the matter is, though, we’ll have other opportunities, during and after the trail, and the pressure to put on the miles at this point on the trail is so intense.

It’s more important to us to get to the end before Katadhin closes than to spend a day on the lake, but justttt barelyyyy. 😹 (Boating on a lake is my happy place. I can not convey how much strength it took to not spend the day with them.)

We hiked through the woods all along the lake, and then walked across the dam. 

Barrett pointed out a lizard at one point, and I yelled, “Oh my God,” because he was very close. I jumped. The lizard jumped. And then skittered away. Then we saw more:

Once we started hiking uphill again, we saw light-green moss-covered rocks all around. The weeds are now elbow-length, sometimes even grabbing at my shoulders as I walk by.

Today’s hike entailed another mountain climb that was straight up, with another challenging incline similar to yesterday’s. The difficulty of the mountains on either side of that lake is underrated IMO, but maybe it’s just the rising temperature getting to me.

Once we got up the incline, we continued on a ridgeline for a while. It was very tree-covered, though, so there really weren’t any summer views. Barrett did climb a rock to get one view of the lake from above, but it was still pretty obscured, so I passed on climbing it.

We spent the entire afternoon up on a ridge, listening to people scream and laugh on the water.

The day ended with lots of crow chatter and a quite creepy purring bird.

We hiked from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, our longest hike so far.

✔️ Length: 16.2 AT miles
✔️ Total Ascent: 3726′
✔️ Total Descent: 3552′
✔️ Total Grade: 449’/mi

Day 56

May 30, 2022

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!! We are putting in big miles and long days. 😃

Our morning adventures included having a wasp in our rainfly, encountering a grumpy camper who didn’t say good morning back to us, and seeing two deer.

This was also saved in my phone from this morning:

😹

Once hiking, we passed the gravesite of Nick “The Hermit” Grindstaff.

Besides learning about Nick (you can read more about him here), I’m not gonna lie —I found the Iron Mountain range, after the lake, to be relatively boring. (I guess they can’t all be winners. :-/)

This section entailed a lot of trekking on a ridge line with heavy trees blocking any hope of views for quite a while.

Eventually, we got to pastures.

We walked by cows and lots of cow dung.

Sometime around here, we noticed the trail got flatter and easier, and we were looking forward to a cruise into Damascus. (Someone referred to this stretch on FarOut as the “Tennessee Turnpike” and said “Fast AF Boi!” 😹)

A red-winged blackbird flew in front of us at one point. We also passed through a land of chipmunks.

By now, my notes are starting to say things like, “While Barrett filled up water, I watched a mouse run along the wood planks and rafters of the shelter, doing his best American Tail routine.” I’m pretty convinced I was starting to lose my mind. 😹

Barrett carried a big bladder full of water that we lovingly started referring to as “water baby”, until we found a nice little stealth site that we had all to ourselves.

We facetimed with Marty from the tent this evening, and it was painfully adorable. He heard us and came running to the phone. 💔😭

VA, here we come! Tomorrow will be our last day in TN. 💪

✔️ Length: 13.1 trail miles
✔️ Total Ascent: 2242′
✔️ Total Descent: 2489′
✔️ Total Grade: 362’/mi

Conclusion: Week Eight — Rain & Renewed Resolve

Week eight of our Appalachian Trail hike was all about endurance, both physical and mental. The rain refused to let up, our gear was perpetually damp, and the miles felt heavier with each soaked step. But through it all, the magic of the trail kept showing up: stunning fog-draped highlands, surprise trail magic, a warm, delicious B&B breakfast, and even a new trail name for me — “Radar.”

The lessons from this week were simple but powerful: keep moving, keep laughing, and trust that every storm eventually gives way to blue skies.

Onward to Week Nine and our first steps into the next big chapter of this adventure: Virginia! 💪⛰️