Date: 2005-04-03
From: Deep Gap

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Deep Gap11.3 miles (82.2 total miles)Today was about as bad as they get. Everything went wrong. It was too cold this morning for me to even eat breakfast. We left the shelter at abou 8:00, straight up a mountain. Halfway up, JoAnne took off her fleece, and found that someone else's headlamp had attached itself to the velcro. So, while she backtracked down the mountain to return the headlamp, I decided to take some pictures of the snow. My camera battery was nearly dead. Bad start to the day.We hiked up in elevation, where the snow got deeper. After about 4 miles, we got to the state line. There was a slight victory. The sign simply says "GA/NC". Two things happened exactly at the state line. First, the wind picked up to a new level. There was a constant cold force pushing me over. Second was that the trail went straight up the mountains. There were no switchbacks, and no subtle grades. The trail went straight up.We followed the trail straight up and down. Every time we went steeply up, we would work up quite a sweat in the direct sunlight. The on the way down, the wind would freeze our cold, wet bodies. To make it worse, the trail was a big snow and mud slick. My feet got soaked. With every step I took, I would slide back. I was just glad not to slide off the mountain.We eventually got to a shelter at lunchtime. There was snow blown halfway into the shelter, making us wonder about the poor people who had stayed there last night. As we got ready to leave, I couldn't find my hat and right glove. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find them. I guessed that one of the boy scouts took it when they were packing up there stuff. I was very mad, as I loved this hat. Luckily JoAnne hikes with 2 hats (one for hiking, one for sleeping), so I could keep my head warm.For the rest of the day, the trail was just plain annoying. The snow was at least 3 inches deep, with drifts of up to 8 inches. The trail seemed to go randomly up and down, never quite hitting peaks or valleys. After 4 agonizing miles, we came to Deep Gap. All our hiker friends were taking an abandoned road into town to warm up. It was a 3 mile walk on this abandoned road to town, and we knew a 6-mile round trip hike was pointless. So, while everyone went into a nice, warm motel room, we stayed at Deep Gap.After everyone left, we found a dry spot on the gravel road to pitch our tent. It was the only dry spot we'd seen in 11 miles. We decided to cook teriyaki noodles (my favorite) to balance out this horrible day. JoAnne soaked the noodles, primed the stove, and went to light it. Nothing happened. The lighter had gone dead. We still have no idea how this happened. We sat for about an hour, hoping someone else would show up with a lighter. But this gap, which was full of thru-hikers and day-hikers only moments ago, was now empty. So instead I took out some ramen noodles, broke them into little pieces, sprinkled some of the beef powder on them, and ate it like broken up crackers. We had wasted my favorite dinner.I still don't know how we thru-hiked in '03 (especially as that was "the rainy year"). We are both mentally drained, as we've had very little decent hiking weather so far. Hiking is so much harder when you can't just plop down and rest when you are tired. Today it was just to wet and snowy. The thru-hikers are struggling now. It's not just us. Everyone is feeling it. Everyone is spending a lot of time in town. Some are already calling it quits. I know the weather will get nicer. I just hope that is soon.