Date: 2011-04-05
From: Off Greenbrier Trail, GSMNP

To: Behind Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.0

Oh my god, what a night and morning. In the middle of that storm, the wind pulled out two of my stakes, so I had to throw on rain gear and frantically fix them with the thunder and lightening going all over. It was a miracle my sleep stuff didn¢t get wet.The rain finally stopped at maybe 3:00 in the morning and it instantly got crazy cold. I¢ve never felt the temperature drop like that. I woke up at some point and felt my tarp pressing on my left side. I pulled the sock down to check on it. It was because it was covered in snow. It looked like better than an inch on the ground and still falling. I woke up again when it was light and thought I heard rain. I figured I¢d sleep till it warmed up and washed the snow away, so didn¢t get up until about 10:00. Turns out it had been more snow. All of my stuff, including my shoes, was covered and frozen. It was a battle packing up. My food bag was really frozen up in the tree. I had to tie a stick to the line and really give it everything I had to break it free. And all my tarp lines were frozen solid. I had to put the knots in my mouth to melt them.Fortunately, I was able to find my way back to the trail and hiked back to the shelter. There were tons of people there including Natty and Cotton. Cotton wanted to interview me, but some guy broke out his guitar, so it was too noisy.I hadn¢t eaten since about 4:00 yesterday, so I had a big breakfast and got my wits back. I¢d gotten pretty rattled after the storm and the snow.Cotton said he¢d see me at the next shelter or find me in Gatlinburg for our interview and headed up the trail with Natty. I left soon after. I¢d changed into just shorts, t-shirt, and rain gear and was freezing, but was okay hiking. Still, I had my hood up almost the whole day, which is usually pretty hot.The trail was a slushy muddy mess the whole day. I¢m not sure how I never fell because there was plenty of sliding and flailing. Siler Bald Shelter (NC/TN ¢ I think there was one in GA, too) was 5.5 miles, which took me about 3.5 hours, including stopping to stretch my feet. Cotton and Natty had left, so I had a quick snack and then set out for this one, which was just about an hour farther.That turned out to be the perfect move. I saw tents when I got here, which means full shelter, so I can camp here. And it¢s not even very exposed. There¢s a pine forest behind it, which blocks the wind pretty well. I¢m just in front of that.The trail between shelters was also beautiful. Lots of big views and blue sky. Oh, and I talked to a ranger who said high 20s tonight then 60s tomorrow. I¢d guess its already a bit colder than that, but I don¢t care. There¢s not much wind and no rain or snow. A chilly night seems like a joke compared to last night. Given the forecast for tomorrow, I¢m going to pretend like this will be the last real cold night of the whole trip. There was another nice surprise here. I sat on the bench in front of the shelter to cook dinner. The shelters here are still open, but there are big tarps in front. There was someone inside playing guitar. The guy at the last shelter was okay this morning, but it got a little annoying. This guy is incredibly good, though. When I was done eating, I hung my food and was going to get in bed, but I heard him start up again. I decided to sit inside and listen, which was really nice. Two other guys were trying without much luck to get a fire going in the fireplace. It was the first time I¢ve really enjoyed being in a shelter.He played about three more songs, then said goodnight and headed for his tent. I followed him out and said how much I¢d enjoyed it. His name¢s Wayland, and he¢s sort of jumping around the trail.It was just a very nice time. Even though it¢s probably colder than last night, everything is totally different. I¢m probably still glad I didn¢t sleep in the shelter last night, but it was scary being in that weather all alone. That shelter slept 12, but I heard today that they had 29 in there. Including a guy who bailed in after the wind collapsed his tent. I was only a half mile away last night, but it feels better being close to friendly people tonight. I won¢t care so much once it¢s finally warm for good, but this stuff is no joke and we¢re not really close to help up here. Anyway, this was sure a long one. Clingman¢s Dome tomorrow, Gatlinburg the day after that. I sure hope tomorrow is as nice as predicted.