Date: 2015-03-07
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: overcast clouds

As you could tell from my abbreviated entry last night, we were not enjoying the weather at that point. Up until yesterday, we had been slack-packing. So last night was the first night that we didn¢t spend in a nice warm bed at Princess¢ brother¢s house. Many forest service roads are closed until April, and there was virtually no way to get from Dick¢s Creek Gap to Rock Gap without spending an overnight on the trail. We chose Standing Indian Shelter as a good midway point, giving us a 17 mile hike on Friday (following a 17-miler on Thursday) and leaving nearly 20 miles to get from there to Rock Gap today. So it¢s been a challenging 3 days.I believe the Standing Indian Shelter is over 4,000 ft elevation, so the temps were even colder than the towns below. Setting up camp for the first time this year in the frigid temps was a challenge, but we managed and stayed comfy in our wool base layers, silk cocoons, down sleeping bags, and down booties. We drew water from the nearby stream and slept with the water and our Sawyer filters to be sure they didn¢t freeze (learned that lesson last year the hard way and one of our TJ readers reminded us). We also have some nice fleece-lined pillow bags that we can pack with next day's clothes so they're warm the next morning. As an aside, we met Pintsize at this shelter last year and tented in nearly the identical spot she did. I¢m not sure, but somehow this morning seemed just a bit warmer and we broke camp early to get on the trail for our longest hike yet. I believe Giuseppe and Brother Louie left shortly after us, and Furball was preparing to leave. We talked with Furball briefly last evening, she is having Achilles problems and hiked much of yesterday in her clogs which she said were more comfortable than her boots.Our initial climb was up the remainder of Standing Indian Mountain - the shelter is less than halfway up. It was long, but the slope was not difficult as much of the trail followed an old, out-of-use logging roadbed. Sunrise greeted us at the top of the mountain and the eastern slopes of the hills started warming quickly. Our biggest challenge of the day was Albert Mountain. We climbed it together last year, but it seemed different to all three of us this year. I know that it¢s essentially the same, so that¢s an indication of how good our memories really are. Several of the lower portions of the climb are cardio stress tests, and the final ascent to the tower at the top sports a lot of short rock climbing sections. But the views at the top are worth it. Today was pretty clear and we could see range after range of mountains stretching off in the distance. Most of the remainder of the hike was a long, relatively gentle downhill trek with long stretches through rhododendron tunnels. There was one remaining hill, but nothing like Albert. Ranger¢s wife Gay met us at Rock Creek Gap and we headed for a barbecue dinner in Franklin. Then we drove to a cabin they have rented not too far from there. It¢s rustic, but with all the amenities and we¢ll have 3 overnights here before moving on. Tomorrow¢s hike will be about half the distance we covered today, we¢re ready for an easier day.