Date: 2004-03-09
From: Saunders Shelter

To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: light snow

Log entry: 38Starting time: 0945Ending time: 1730Morning weather: Cold and snowy, snowed a little less than an inch overnightAfternoon weather: It did some kind of precipitation all day. Sometimes rain but as the day wore on, it turned to snowy.Evening weather: Cold and snowy, snowed hard at times overnight.Breakfast: Oats and CIBLunch: Vanilla creme cookies and Sour Apple KoolaidDinner: Lipton Noodles, hot chocolateTrail description: Easy walking for the morning. The trail was slushy and the snow didn't start sticking until a bit past US58, past Lost Mountain. The climb up Whitetop Mt was very long but the grade was great. This is when the snow really started falling on the ascent making the rocky trail a litte dangerous.People: The 3 Amigos from Saunders, the Solemates and Icecold and Mr. 3000 (Bo)Wildlife: tweety birdsMoney spent: noneBiggest complaints: Nothing sticks out 2 weeks later.Thoughts: It was a cold night, but manageable. It snowed just enough to let you know that it was still winter. We packed up at a leisurly pace, meaning slowly. By 1000 we rolled and Steve was still in his sleeping bag. Cory and Tad had been yelling "Steve get up" since 0830 but he wasn't "hiking in the snow". I was just happy that he didn't get up during the night and grab the sword and run us all through. Oh yeah, the sword. It was Cory's. It was about 20 inches long, a bit longer than a a machette. The stainless steel blade was thick and did an adequate job chopping wood. Cory had a homemade sheath made of masonite. It was a pretty cool tool except possesion of it probably required a license.The 3 of us hiked steady until Lost Mt Shelter where we broke for lunch. TheSolemates decided that they were going to tent it for the night somewhere by White Top Mt. I had no intention of sleeping anywhere except in a shelter toweather out the impending storm. You could just feel it. So I took off afterjust a short break to eat my cookies and visit the privy. The afternoon was the first I had hiked by myself since befoe Erwin. It felt good to stretch my legs and let em run. Miles past like minutes, even though my pace at best never exceeded 4 mph. The snow fell heavier and heavier as I flew.By the time I reached Thomas Knob Shelter, elevation 5400 feet, my body wascovered in snow but my blood ran warm. Waiting in the shelter was Billy, Icecold and his yellow lab, Mr 3000, Bo. Icecold is a cool dude. We didn't stop to chat much cause I wanted to get water and then get in my bag and bivy. The water source was down the hill and I fell hard against a sizeable stone. The path to the water was impossible to determine in the 7 inches of fresh powder. The source was a good one though and my new filter and properly lubed pump moved a lot of water fast. Soon I was back in the shelter, in dry clothes and snug in my bivy. I still ate a healthy, hearty dinner and got caught up with Icecold. He is a northbounder that started January 10th but had to take 3 weeks off while his dog Bo recovered from surgery. He had a ruptured blood vessel in his ear. It was too cold to do anything besides cook and sleep, so I did. And the snow fell...