Date: 2006-02-09
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Walnut Mt Shelter
Miles today: 13.0

Walnut Mt Shelter   Snow, windy, sunny. Woke up to 4" of snow everywhere - so that explains why it got so cold last night!!!It was a lot easier going today - seemed to have much more energy (Switched to duracell last night!!!) Had a boring moment in the day so I decided to try and walk while listening to music - did not work well for me - music is for night time only for this hiker - guess I have to remove all that "wild" music. There is nothing like being tucked into your sleeping bag with warm booties, a hot Nalgene bottle, and listening to Enya until you wake up with a jerk because the next song was by Alanais Morrisette!!! Saw a huge owl right before reaching Max Patch. As i would approach the owl it would fly ahead, then I would get close again and it would take off - we played tag all the way til I reached the edge of Max Patch. (However, no owl mail-drop was delivered). Last time I visited Max Patch it was warm and sunny and I had taken a nap on the summit together with three friends, this time, however, it was totally different. It was wild reaching the summit of Max Patch because everytime I took two steps up I would slide one step down due to all the ice underneath the snow. The drifts would reach my knees and the wind was fierce. The blowing snow and ice would bite my skin and before long my face started burning. I had to cover my face with a bandana and put on my sunglasses to protect my eyes. Leaning into the wind I got over the top. The top itself did not have a thick layer of snow - it was more ice. It was a great feeling fighting throught the wind and the cold - as long as I kept moving stayed warm. Took a minute to rest as I reached the forrest (and the deeper snow) again. This was on the non-windy side. Had a little trouble finding the trail, as the white blaze hid among all the white snow blotches on the trees. Stopped at the new Roaring Fork Shelter to cook some hot lunch - I had gotten chilled to the bone. I made whole wheat pasta and Albacore Steak with fresh Parmasan cheese and rosemary - It was one of the best meals I have had on the trail. Felt so good to sit in the sun that was now peeking out and getting warmed from both outside and the inside. Now it was time to find walnut Mt Shelter - What was that? The sign at the old Roaring Fork Shelter read eleven-some miles to the next shelter - that could not be right - or I guess I would just be tenting tonight. At 17:00 I was tired and ready to pitch the tent - just wanted to get over this last hill - Walnut Mt. (Walnut Mt. had been clear-cut to restore it to its original agricultural bald, well in my humble opinion "originally" that bald had been forrest before it was clear-cut in the first place, and why is it necessary with yet another bald, I had just passed Mill Ridge Bald and Max Patch Bald both of witch are huge areas - well, I do not know the entire story behind the decision - i just hope the clear-cut was made for the right reasons - and not just to give the hikers another view). Just as I passed the last cut down trees I saw the old Walnut Mt Shelter sitting down among the lower trees. It is one of the original CCC shelters buildt around 1938-1939. As I tucked into my sleeping bag I saw the beautiful full moon and two owls started calling out to one another - it was a wild call, sounded exotic almost like a chimpansee screaming. I want to try to get up really early so I can do some "moon walking".