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FlattopMaker t1_jdl738l wrote

I love Roan Mountain, but don't think I could stay out there longer than 3 days. At any point did you have health, medical or dental concerns? How did you handle those?

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5btg OP t1_jdl82yc wrote

Yes Roan Mountain is beautiful! We had a wonderful time there.

Funny story about that: while we were in that area we heard rumors about "the best breakfast on the AT". We were 17 miles away and it was to be a full moon that evening, so we layed down around 1PM and slept.

Our plan, which we executed flawlessly, was to wake up at midnight and depart. Our calculations told us that we would arrive at the hostel right as breakfast was being served, something like 7:30 in the morning if I remember correctly. We called ahead and let them know that we would be arriving in the AM, and they skeptically said "okay".

Well, it worked. We woke up at midnight and packed up. Someone played "River of dreams" by Billy Joel on their phone. Morale was through the roof. We hiked mostly under the glow of the full moon, and it was a cool windy night. Those mountains looked magical under the moonlight. We were like zombies when we showed up at breakfast in the morning soon after the sun had come up, and it absolutely was the best breakfast I have ever had in my life. After breakfast we went over to hostel's the bunk house and passed out

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FlattopMaker t1_jdl9c0d wrote

Great story - you made it! That is an awesome part of being able to set an independent schedule on the safe AT compared to some other trails in the world. The Via Francigena is the same in that respect. I always appreciate the freedoms we have!

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