Date: 2009-04-22
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC

To: Camping Site just before Spivey Gap, NC
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

I didn't sleep that well last night. Ramble On put up the tarp in front of the shelter which caused a wind front on me. The tarp didn't reach all the way across and left an opening right in front of me. It was still just the three of us, so I moved to the other side of Tanglefoot. I lost a bootie in the move, but finally found it. It took me forever to get resettled. I have to give Ramble On credit, because he took another tarp covered the whole opening. I'm sure we were warmer last night due to his efforts. Then Yoyo came in well after dark. He brought his dinner garbage into the shelter and the mouse trying to get into it woke me up in the middle of the night. It also woke up Tanglefoot who shined his light on the mouse, but the mouse continued gnawing on the trash. So Tanglefoot knocked the mouse across the shelter. Ha. It also got very cold, but I stayed warm in my feathers. When I woke up, Tanglefoot said that it had snowed. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. It was really cold and with the news of snow I just burrowed down in my bag further. I finally emerged and got ready for the day. I'm really tired of winter! I want warmer weather. Now!! I just couldn't believe that the ground was covered in white stuff. Ugh!Tanglefoot waited for me this morning and we hiked out together. It has been a long time since I've hiked with someone and it helped me on this cold blustery day. We went directly uphill which makes me warm. We stopped several times to adjust our layers. It flurried off and on all morning and the wind really picked up. Brrrr. We passed a road that had trash cans and we dumped our trash and adjusted our layers again. Then we started the climb up Big Bald. It was quite the climb and depending on where we were on the mountain it was very windy or calm. The sky became party cloudy and we had sun off and on, but the windchill made it feel cold. We finally got to the top of Big Bald and we had views! Unbelievable! We took some pictures and enjoyed the view. we haven't had many views, so this was special. We wanted to have lunch up there, but couldn't find a sheltered place from the wind. So we hiked on. When I say we hiked together, I mean for the most part Tanglefoot would hike ahead then wait for me. Only place I can walk his pace is on flat terrain and there isn't much flat terrain out here. It is either going up or down. We made our way to the Big Bald Shelter a ways past the actual Big Bald and had lunch. It had actually warmed up enough by now that I was able to enjoy my lunch. I knew that I couldn't make the next shelter, but didn't want to stay at this shelter as it was too early. We decided to head to a couple of campsites listed on the map. We had some nice views today which I really appreciated. We got to the Whistle Gap campsite and decided to go on to Spivey Gap. Just one little hump to go over and then down to the gap. Well that was not an easy little hump, but some serious up for the end of the day. I was happy after I got over it that we did it today and not first thing tomorrow. I love coming down into the valleys of the lower elevations. It all seems so much more alive and green then the upper elevations. Big Bald was over 5000 ft today and Spivey gap is at 3200 ft, but what a difference in what I see. Much warmer down here as well. Tanglefoot picked us a sweet spot to camp and was building a campfire when I got here. We set up camp and then had a leisurely dinner by the fire. It was so nice not to have to dive right for the sleeping bag tonight, but be able to relax by the fire. We have about eleven miles to go tomorrow to get to Uncle Johnny's and town. Another town and another section will be complete. Yeah!Waking up to snow was so hard for me this morning. We heard on the way down from two dayhikers that more snow is in the forecast. Major ugh! The forecast we had at Hot Springs called for four days of sun and warm weather, not snow. It seems like every time there is nice weather in the forecast, it doesn't happen. It is very hard on my spirits. I'm warm tonight and looking forward to a good nights sleep.