Date: 2005-02-02
From: Trimpi Shelter

To: Chatfield Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great day! Arguably my most productive day of AT hiking ever. I usually don¢t do 17+ miles even in fair conditions let alone 4-10 inches of crusty snow, howling winds, and a gathering storm. My time was better than indicated because I spent nearly 2 hours at Partnership Shelter and the Mt. Rogers NRA Visitors Center.The first occurrence today was the cessation of my watch around 5AM. Whatever widgets inside the watch began recognizing the 5AM alarm time as the shutdown time, resetting the clock to 12 midnight.   Deciding a guess was better than nothing, I set it for 5:10 and as it turned out, I was accurate to a minute. But as a cheap sportswatch, I knew its days were numbered. Up at 5:25, ready to leave by 6:35 but too dark. I have to remember that I¢m in the western end of the Eastern time zone. Finally began in semi-darkness and enjoyed the first 2 hours of hiking on nearly bare (i.e. snowless) ground. Hey, today should be a treat! Not exactly.After passing through an open field in the beautiful dawning light (wonderful photo-op), I crossed the Holston River and began ascending the Brushy Mountain ridge. When the Trail switched over to the other side of the slope, I was in snow again, not to leave it for the rest of the day. The morning was difficult in that the Trail rolled along the ridge crest when the winds picked up. The bright sunshine and blue skies were pleasing but the wind rendered stopping for gorp breaks near impossible. Because of the wind, the snow lay in drifts, some as deep as 12 inches making for more difficult and slower footing. Like yesterday, this stretch was likely easy in fair, dry conditions but this morning was somewhat challenging. Also, it didn¢t help that my mind could not get off some personal issues which thus far, this hike was not alleviating.As I was ascending up yet another roll of the ridge, a voice behind me called belonging to a middle-aged man out conducting geological survey work. He was amazed to encounter footprints in the snow (mine) and wondered what kind of fool would be out today. He was equally astonished to find a backpacker ¢ some one actually sleeping overnight in these conditions. During our amicable conversation, along with setting me straight on the correct time, he told me the weather forecast called for 3-7 inches of snow tonight.Well, here¢s a decision point. As I wended my way to Partnership Shelter while looking at the increasingly-threatening gray skies to the west, I mulled over 3 options: (1) bailing out today hitching down Rt. 16 to my car at the Relax Inn in Groseclose (the wimp option); (2) staying at Partnership Shelter which was my original intention and judging tomorrow whether to hike or hitchhike (the in-between option); or (3) hike another 7.7 miles to Chatfield Shelter in which case I¢d only have 4+ miles tomorrow which I can probably manage in new snow (the macho option). Reaching Partnership at 11:55 gave me time to go on to Chatfield. After talking to the NRA ranger about weather, I cooked a hot meal at the shelter, checked for phone messages, consumed a candy bar, and decided to move on despite the forecast and despite continued deep-enough snow on the Trail.Perhaps it was the rest and hot meal that did the trick. I was strong this afternoon even with more difficult hiking brought about by ascents up Locust and Glade Mountains, ascents with more elevation gain than the previous day-and-a-half of hiking. It reminded me of the afternoon last year when Northern Harrier and I hiked to Bly Gap in increasingly bitter cold; for some reason, I was stronger at the end of the day then also. So I felt good ¢ I was now enjoying this. A challenge I had never undertaken ¢ hiking in the dead of winter in snow by myself ¢ was proving achievable. Unlike my previous hiking, someone else had recently walked this stretch leaving footprints for me to step into ¢ good but potential for ankle twisting. When I began the final descent I let out a yell of celebration as the Trail came upon a break in the trees replete with a log bench/love seat affording an impressive vista. As the descent continued through rhododendron groves, my feet finally began to feel sore again from the effects of hiking in crusty snow. And my heel blister bothered me all day.At the shelter (alone of course, although the footprints I had followed had given me hope for some companionship), I cooked my last meal as darkness enveloped everything. Some occasional snow flurries earlier had thus far not amounted to anything major. What will I wake up to tomorrow?