Date: 2010-04-27
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: moderate rain

My first 20-miler and what a day to pull it.At the shelter last night: Paul Bunyan, Squirrel, Scatters, Dennis, Powder, Mountain Tattoo, Dumpster Bear and 3 others (no trail names). I set out from the shelter in a light chill rain with the thought of pulling a 20 mile day. I¢m driven by thoughts of a) maintaining a pace that will put me in Hot Springs, NC by Friday to meet up with my family, and b) getting the hell out of The Smokies! The morning is mostly gray with a few swirling clouds limited views. On a couple occasions I'm fortunate to stand on a ridgeline as this gray curtain parts to reveal the nearest mountains with clouds, fog, and mist of various shades of gray and white swirling around and over them. At one point as I¢m standing there for those few moments available appreciating the view I get the feeling I'm in a living IMAX movie as the clouds drift away from me and I experience the feeling that the clouds are pushing the mountains away from me. The swirling winds are constantly shifting the clouds such that you'd get a different picture each moment if you were taking stills. This was the best part of my day and unfortunately it was early on and there was still a lot of day left.I plod on in the mist and light rain until the rain begins to make a clattering noise and I realize that with the onslaught of sleet I¢m now officially walking in a ¢wintery mix¢. The sleet lasts for a short while and I enjoy it for the novelty...the first time. A bit later it starts sleeting again, harder and slightly bigger BBs, mixed with rain and gusts of wind. This weather persists and in fact continues to deteriorate as snow, increased wind, and decreasing temperatures play their hand. By early afternoon the sleet and snow are constant and the sides of the trail slowly turning white, accumulating to 3 inches in some spots where before there was none and I¢m still miles from my final shelter destination. In the meantime, with all the moisture the trail has instead become a trench channeling the water to flow at my feet and soon I realize that even Gor-Tex has its limits. For gloves I have a thin pair of wool running gloves wholly inadequate for this chill, wet weather. My hands turn to claws gripped to my trekking poles and I'm mindful to blow into them occasionally when the numbness gets acute. I dance down the trail, trying to hop on rocks or zig zagging from one side of the trail to the other trying to avoid the biggest pools, flows, and puddles. The rocks are slick now with the sleet and snow and there are few safe havens for my footfalls. I come to accept that everything is soaked, my shoes and socks just wet rags separating my feet from the trail, and so become less and less picky about where I step. All of this is a new experience for me and in these horrid conditions thoughts of survival are not far from those that keep me moving down the trail and slogging to the next shelter and safe haven.After a long, miserable-in-every-way day I arrive at the shelter, 20 miles later, cold, wet and hungry. All I want to do is grab a bite, get some dry clothes and jump into a warm sleeping bag and but it¢s never that simple. Arriving at camp means I first have to get water to cook a hot meal, then hang out wet things as best as possible so they can dry (actually, nothing really dries when it¢s 33 degrees but excess water will drip off). My hands are cold, pruny claws that won¢t respond properly to the mental commands I set them to, making everything I want to do to put this misery behind take that much agonizingly longer.