4/18/01
Today was a beautiful, sunny day with light tropical breezes and balmy temperatures...only in my dreams! It snowed again off and on and the wind didn't stop blowing all night. I was uncomfortable by morning in my 30 degree bag even with clothing on...I think I sweated then the dampness of the bag coupled with the low temperature gave me my misery. It was still snowing this morning and I was sluggish getting up and going. I kept waiting for the snow to take a break so I could quickly take the tent down but the opportunity never materialized and I finally got impatient and took the tent down in the snow. This was my latest starting hike time; I didn't get on the trail until 9 a.m. Frankly, I was so cold and miserable, especially my hands, that I couldn't get jump started. The snow showers lasted until about noon, and it was bitterly cold on the ridgetop with the strong wind and blowing snow. As it was in Georgia, there were often drifts to plow through of one to two feet. By the time I had hiked 8 miles to the Hogback Ridge shelter, I was thoroughly disgusted with both hiking in deep snow and with the day itself. When I stopped at the shelter for lunch, Sky, Wink and Brooklyn were there in their sleeping bags. They hadn't moved all morning. In fact, Brooklyn hadn't been out of his sleeping bag since yesterday at 5 p.m. and said he planned on going a full 24 hours without getting out.
Freebird, Dimples and Tadpole caught up to me as I sat on the picnic table outside the shelter trying to warm my hands while eating lunch (to no avail I might add). I followed the three of them out of the shelter and we all agreed to hike to Low Gap to tent camp tonight. Tent camping is always better than the shelters when it is cold and windy. For an hour or two after lunch, it actually became tolerable as the sun finally came out, but by the time we reached the campsite around 4:30 it was blowing and cold again. You can probably tell by now that this was a rough day for me on top of a rough night and a rough day yesterday as well. Tonight will be a record cold night and I'll probably sleep cold again, but I'm enthusiastic about tomorrow's moderating temperatures out of the arctic tundra environment to real NC April weather! The torture is almost over! Tonight there are quite a few of us tenting together at Low Gap including Dimples and Freebird, Tadpole, Alex and Denis (same group as last night) and Green Light and Terrant. As with any cold night, it's still daylight outside yet everyone is in their tent and it's quiet (and it's only 8 p.m.).
You'll be amazed to know that I coined a new word today! You see, the snow was just right to pack together and while hiking, it was building up under the boots like a large snowball under the middle of the boot where the string from the boot gaiter crosses at the arch. It would get bigger and bigger with each step then finally let go of the boot if I stomped my foot or hit a hard spot on the trail. I have decided to call this phenomenon "dingle snowball berries"! The darned dingle snowball berries annoyed me more than anything else today, and they were relentless in forming, making hiking difficult, then finally detaching themselves from the boot only to have another one form. I thought I was alone with this phenomenon until I reached the shelter at lunch and brought up the subject, only to learn that all of us were suffering from dingle snowball berry "boots". I almost forgot to mention Wink. This crazy guy decided back at Hot Springs to ditch his boots and to walk exclusively in Chacos (sandals). When the snow piled up, he hiked yesterday with socks and ziplock bags over the socks and the Chacos. His feet must have been totally frozen and I wasn't surprised when he wasn't hiking today when I arrived at the shelter for lunch. It's interesting to watch people make gear decisions then suffer from making the wrong one. I have to admit I sure could have used my zero degree sleeping bag last night and tonight. But I'll survive to hike again tomorrow and it will only get better. Today's stats: low 23 degrees high 42. Snowy a.m.; partly sunny p.m. Windy! Today's mileage: 14.0 cumulative: 318.0 RABBIT
