Date: 2004-04-05
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

It did get cold last night. Very cold and the wind was blowing most of the night which brought the temp down into the teens. Being the brlliant person I am I forgot to clear my water filter from the water trip last night and it was frozen. No breakfast at the start but the next shelter was about 3 miles up the trail so I figured I would get water there and stop to eat. The crew at the shelter last night consisted of Sox,Sweetleaf,Yertle,Kickstand,Scholar, and Rosslyn. We were all planning on doing the miles to Derrick Knob Shelter today. Mule and River Queen were just a little bit ahead of us. The day started off great. The sun was out and it was warming up a bit. The first 4 miles went by quickly. The trail was a bit muddy and there was still a lot of snow which was melting and draining into the trail and then..... THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN SKI REPORTHello folks, welcome to today's ski report. The lower elevations have a good base. No powder and a hard crust on top. It is goingto be difficult to set your edges. When you get to the top be prepared for the slalom/bobsled course. Today's course rating is extreme. Tune in tomorrow for a new update.   --------------------------   Today turned out to be the most difficult day yet. Not because of the ups and downs. It was all about the ice and snow. After the first 4 miles the trail took a turn for the worse. The hike up to Rocky Top was mainly on slushy snow. Slip and slide was the name of the game. Rocky Top was worth it. The views were spectacular. They beat the views from Blood Mtn. and Albert Mountain, hands down. As I was looking around I spotted Scholar and Dingle in the distance ahead of me. [Dingle was at the shelter that I stopped at for breakfast]. After Rocky Top the day fell to pieces. Ice and snow made it treacherous to walk. I had to concentrate on every step. In a lot of places I had to study the terrain before I made a step. This went on for a long time. My foot really started to bother me, from all the slipping and sliding. This went on for about 2 or 3 miles and then the trail got better. Better in the sense that it turned into just mud. Usually I can zone out while hiking but today took all concentration to move forward. Because of the terrain it took a long time to get to the days goal. At one point in time I thought I had overshot the shelter. All I could do was resign myself to hiking on to the next one if I had missed it. I finally saw the shelter and it was the one I was shooting for. Everyone straggled in and everyone had the same impression....a hell of a day. Kickstand had a good line. He said that when he hit the last hill he said to himself that this had better be the last hill or else ...or else he would just keep walking. There is not much you can do but keep walkiing if you are trying to get somewhere on the trail! As we were setling in 3 guys came in from the north. They were doing a 3 day hike and the older of the 3 had an attitude. Thru hikers are suposed to get out of the shelter if someone with a reservation comes in [this only applies to the Smokies] and there is no room left in the shelter. This guy made a comment to that effect but there was still room and we told him so. They cooked their meals and started putting their food back in their packs. We all threw each other glances and then told them that they should bag and hang their food if they wanted to have it in the morning. They looked at us and we explained about the mice. They took our advice. Mice can be a real problem in the shelters. If you leave food they will get to it and probably leave some nice holes in your pack in the process. Rosslyn got an official trailname tonight .. Skirt ..In the shelter tonight there is Sox,Skirt,Sweetleaf,Dingle,Kickstand,Yertle,Scholar, and Mumbles.