Date: 2009-04-13
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: overcast clouds

....And boy did the winds blow. I was in my tent and the side of the tent kept hitting me hard. I kept going in and out of sleep trying to ignore it but it got worse and worse. The whole tent would lay sideways partially lifting me over with it. Now I knew that the wind wouldn't blow me off the mountain but I was afraid that it would rip my tent apart or break my tent poles in pieces. So at four in the morning while it was pitch dark,raining and foggy, I proceeded to pack up my gear and take down my tent. I was having to hold onto to my tent with my very life. I would undo a stake and the wind would get under it and blow it in the air. If I had accidentally let go of the tent it would have took off into the night like a big balloon full of helium. Eventually the battle with the wind and my tent was over as I resolved to the shelter for cover. I just sat there on my pack in the dark for awhile not wanting to wake anyone one but I began to get cold so I unpacked my sleeping pad and bag and laid it on the edge of the shelter's bunk floor to wait until the morning came.The shelter had a huge tarp covering the opening but the wind was slapping it so hard I don't see how any of them could sleep through the loud noise it was making. Then daylight finally came and again I was planning a long day so I headed out. The rain continued as did the strong winds and even stronger gusts. I went over Devils Tater Patch(cute name, huh? Maybe that's where hot potatoes come from ),Little Abrams Gap,Big Abrams Gap and the wind would catch my backpack just right and twist me around some. It was very hard fighting the wind and rain.And this part of the trail was also shared with horses which made it very rutted out and deep with mud. I got to Russell Field Shelter and wanted to take a break just to get out of the wind but I was already getting cold so I kept going. I came to Spence Field Shelter and went inside. A small fire was still burning from the last group of hikers here so I stoked it and got it going pretty good and I began to get warm. Other hikers came in also and said the same thing about how the wind was wearing them out too. I decided to stay put for the day and the shelter was filled to the max. I stayed in the shelter again tonight because it was still raining and most of all the wind was still howling and doubling the trees over. Everyone cooked and ate their food in the shelter that night.That is sooo not right in bear country. HeeHee. I thought it was too funny. I'm just glad it wasn't grizzly country. I just figured if a bear came he/she would have a big fight on their claws with all the fourteen plus hungry hikers in the shelter.I realized that my cell phone was inadvertently left on and drained my battery. That's the reason for no updates for a few days. But thankfully I did have enough battery to call Maddog to change our meeting place on Wednesday to Clingman's Dome parking lot instead of New Found Gap as previously planned.   I tucked into my sleeping bag early to get warm as we had run out of wet firewood to burn. Some here are Pork Chop,Hot Feet,Free,Sneaks,Captain Caveman,Goat,Up and Adam,Mud,GiddyUp and many more. Many also ended up tenting anyway but by night the wind had died down a bit.