Date: 2010-02-14
From: Muscrat Creek Shelter NC

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: scattered clouds

And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow.                                     - Roy Bean First, a Happy Valentine's Day to my loved ones!I woke early in my tent ant Muskrat Creek Shelter, but stayed in my bag until some of the locals were stirring. Then I got out and packed up. The weather was fine for now, but I had hopes of making it as far as I could before any more bad weather came in.Fahmah was still in his tent, and I let him know my plans. He said he was going to stay to let his gear dry out. He assured me he was fine, so I left, pushing my pace as much as I could.I made it to Standing Indian Shelter in the early afternoon, but decided to press on as I wanted to get over Standing Indian Mountain, at nearly 5500 ft, today, if possible. I still had hours of daylight left. The climb up the mountain was hard enough, but the wind and the snow made it very uncomfortable and extra difficult. The snow and blowdowns slowed my pace enough that I figured I would be hardpressed to make it to Carter Gap Shelter, but didn't really want to bivouc, given the weather. I could, and that would be a last resort. I had my tent and a good sleeping bag, but that would leave me without a good place to use my stove.I hurried on as much as I could through the gray afternoon. The wind continued to be bitter, sometimes bringing stinging ice crystals. I tried to adjust my own temperature by adjusting my speed and my clothing. Hats (yes, two), a gaiter, mittens, and rainjacket were worn in different combinations, trying to be warm enough in the wind, yet not sweating when the wind stopped. I was following someone's footprints, from the day before I would guess, since they were all but covered over. On and on I went, huffing and puffing, trying to make good time, but always slowed down by the snow and the ice. The drifts of snow got higher, making it harder to plow through the piles.The snow blanketing the trail made it harder to distinguish the features underneath. At one stream crossing, a large snow-covered rock turned out to be only a small snow- and ice-covered rock and I lost my footing. Whoosh went my foot from underneath me. I came down hard in the middle fo the creek. It wasn't deep, but now I was getting wet. And I was having trouble finding any purchase to get myself back on to my feet. With my giant turtle shell on my back, I flailed and scrabbled with arms, legs and hiking poles to find anyway to get back up. Preferably without getting any wetter.Darkness closed in, but at least the trail seemed to get a little easier. The cover of trees was keeping the worst of the wind off of me and had kept the snow from drifting too badly. I was aware that I was getting cold and tired. I was losing my footing more easily as I pushed through the snow. I began to worry more seriously about hypothermia. Given the weather conditions, my physical state and my soloing, it was a real threat. As I went the final mile, I rehearsed in my head what I would need to do when I got in to get warm as soon as possible. What camp chores would I need to do? In what order should I do them? Which ones could be skipped until morning?At long last, around 8PM, I arrived at the shelter. No one else was there. I dropped my pack and immediately got out my puffy jacket and put it on. I looked for the water source, but couldn't find it. I did find the privy, but that wasn't of much use at the time. I knew I hadn't been drinking enough during the day. I was worried that too much cold water could chill me down, and I didn't want the water freezing in my water bottle, so I wasn't filling the bottle when I did have the chance to. I would drink some, then carry only a partial bottle away, drinking that before it would freeze.But now I couldn't find a water source near the shelter. And I didn't want to chance stumbling around in the dark and cold very much, risking losing my way back to the shelter. I normally wouldn't have been to worried about that, but with the wind and dropping temps, I wanted to get into my bag as soon as possible. So I began melting snow on my stove to make dinner and get something warm to drink. That took quite a bit of time, but I used the time waiting to spread out my sleeping bag and change into dry clothing and so on. Finally, FINALLY, about 9PM I got into my nice bag. I shivered several times and then was able to relax as my warmth warmed the bag up.I had no trouble falling asleep after such a hard day.