Date: 2017-04-08
From: Spence Field shelter

To: Silers Bald shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

From Fatboy:We hiked 11.8 miles today. There were some difficult ascents and the trail was frozen in the morning. I covered my taped, double-socked, battered feet with Mylar shopping bags before I put on my frozen, mud-encrusted shoes. The feeling of putting on frozen shoes to walk in frozen slush for many miles is something that must be experienced to fully understand. When you add the entertainment of slipping and sliding, sometimes falling, it makes for an exhausting day. We did experience some amazing views and even saw a snow maiden that was made by some hikers. Hikers are overwhelmingly young males so she had very prominent breasts. Ginger posed nicely with her and I have a cute picture to record the memory. I had found a hiking stick along the trail that I recognized as belonging to Shane. This stick still had the rubber wristband around it that I knew he'd received as trail magic. I picked it up and Ginger strapped it to the back of my pack with the stick projecting above my head for a couple of feet. It was hilarious-looking and presented a new challenge since I often have to duck anyway to avoid low branches. This lead to conversations with me referring to my "antenna" and references to old TV shows like My Favorite Martian. It helped to relieve some of the pain and made the trail miles more fun. The best part was seeing the smile on Shane's face when he was reunited with his hiking staff.We made it to Silers Bald Shelter by around 1830 and the shelter was full so we set up our tent near the shelter as per the guidelines. I was cold and exhausted but Ginger got our water, set up our sleeping mats, and generally did everything possible to make the night as easy for me as possible. She is a wonderful best friend and wife and I love spending my days with her. This trip would be impossible for me on my own. We ate our Ramen and noodle dish with some kind of fruit and nut mix for dessert and went to bed. Our sleeping bag is a double so we sleep together, is rated for 15 degrees and we have bag liners. We sleep in long johns and fleece and down jackets, with hats too. I was frozen all night. I could only lie flat on my back because of hamstring cramps and I shivered all night. I don't know how cold it was but the ground was frozen. I can verify that the ground was frozen because this shelter doesn't have a privy. Rather, it has a sign pointing down a hill saying "privy area." I can attest that, again, unless you've walked down an icy embankment to dig a cathode in the snowy, frozen ground to answer the call of nature you don't understand how joyous an experience it is to start your day. (It's barbaric. I believe the inventor of indoor plumbing and flush toilets should be revered as a saint.)From Ginger:The snow maiden was was near Rocky Top. Then at Thunderhead Mountain (5527 feet), we were able to get a rare phone call out! I fell for the first time. Nearly 200 miles in, so I was probably due. It was actually 1.5 times. The miles to Derrick Knob shelter, which we eventually blew past, were spent with a lot of laughter, even though the six miles there seemed like 10. It was the Elusive Derrick and his missing Knob! The portion after that helped with Simon and Garfunkel songs. Nathan was so fun with his rendition of "The Boxer," and I added percussion that cracked us both up. I will be happy to not see mud again for a while ...