Day 5, 26 APR, The Rollercoaster and Rod Hollow Shelter (17.5 mi)

There are many talked about sections of the AT and Day 5 contained the much talked about Rollercoaster, a 13.5 mile stretch of ups and downs, that was a marked difference from the rolling and nicely graded terrain of MD and WV.  I was a bit apprehensive but there was another nice surprise awaiting me on Day 5, a beautiful skyscape.  I stopped for a small break and just happened to look up.  The way the blue of the sky, the greens of the newly budding trees, and the trickling of the stream caught my attention in a fresh way.  The picture to the right probably doesn't capture it, but it was arresting in a delightfully surprising way.  It broke up the seeming monotony of the ups and downs of the Rollercoaster.  Another great day on the AT; it is the surprise of the scenery on the AT that is most delightful.  The tiring nature of the walking heightens the beauty that is consistently and readily available.  Here are

the pictures from my conquering of the Rollercoaster.  Rod Hollow Shelter was a nice place to land for two people that I met:  one, Lynn Rimmel, from Montana has a friend that publishes children's books and was especially interested in my stars book; and two was a thru hiker from N. GA named Arrowhead with whom we shared good memories of the Nantahala Gorge.