Date: 2014-03-25
From: Rockfish Gap, VA

To: Top of Humpback Mountain, VA
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: light snow

Foodwalker here again-- feel like I've been in Waynesboro for quite a while. Got up relatively early from a nice sleep and the weather looked okay. By the time that we had finished eating breakfast, the snow was coming down pretty heavily. Got up to Rockfish Gap and both the skyline and blue ridge parkways were closed because of issues with snow and ice. Tracy texted me later and said they were camp around Humpback Mountain. Tracy also said they were camped in about 10 inches of snow, which is really strange, considering there is less than a week left in March. I guess that spring hasn't gotten the memo that it is supposed to be starting already. The robins that I have seen look pretty chilly.I did a lot of reading and shopping. There sometimes is not a lot of things to do, so I basically stayed indoors and did the above mentioned activities. Trust all is well with Tracy and Cassidy.Will be keeping tabs on the weather and tabs on where Tracy and Cassidy are (they are definitely living up to their group name , the sisterhood of Payne).Signing off. Foodwalker.         Hi, this is Tracy McG. It was an interesting day today. Definitely did not go as anticipated! After a great breakfast at the Quality Inn in Waynesboro, Foodwalker dropped us at Rockfish Gap in light snow, with 1-2 inches predicted. The trail was pretty nice for several miles, along the side of a ridge below the Blue Ridge Parkway. After a while, I thought, "This looks like more than 2 inches!" By the time the very nice Paul C Wolfe shelter appeared out of the mist, there were several inches on the ground and the going was trickier. We stopped for only a brief snack at the shelter because it got too cold when we weren't moving. Saw Sockless and Erin had stayed there a couple days earlier. 15.8 miles to the next shelter, so we knew we would be camping for the night. Crossing the wide stream in front of the shelter was tricky with several inches of snow on the rocks and the water running high. Cassidy got safely across and I only got one foot wet. Didn't matter that much, because we were already wet with snow and sweat anyways. The trail got harder after that. After getting up that ridge we went down a long, very rocky logging road. Actually, by that time I didn't think the rocks were that bad, because the snow was so deep that you just sort of slid over them, wherever you saw a lump in the snow. Finally we started up Humpback Mountain and the snow just kept coming down and it was still getting colder. Cassidy's hair was soaked, and she was getting pretty tired, and I was getting worried about hypothermia during the night. After a long way up, Cassidy stopped believing there was a top to the mountain, and yet we had to keep forcing our way through the snow, which was about 7-8 inches deep at this point. I really wanted to get near the top so I could get cell reception and let Foodwalker know where we were. Just below the peak, I finally got a signal. We were in a little protected rhododendron patch, and we quickly set up camp for the night. As quickly as we could, anyways, with our hands freezing and packs and boots heavy with snow and ice. We kicked snow away to form little hollows for the tents. Cassidy had to tie part of her tent to a branch to get enough tension in it. I was very thankful for my little free-standing tent. I had to knock all the icicles off my hood before I got in the tent. Anyhow, it was a long, cold night, but we both stayed warm enough in our bags and tents. The wind was really howling, but our little area was pretty protected from it. It sleeted for a bit, and then snowed a little more. Snow kept falling off branches onto my tent and startling me. Cassidy and I would yell back and forth from time to time to make sure we were both okay. It was fine as long as you stayed in your sleeping bag, but very cold. I'd start shaking every time I had to get out. Slept okay, though. Ended up with about 10 inches up there.