Date: 2006-02-17
From: Hog Back Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

No Business Knob Shelter Rain, fog, sun 45F It is hard to leave early when it is raining outside and there is good company in the shelter so i did not get going until around 8:00 or so. My goal for the day was to reach at least Bald Mt Shelter (9.5mi). It was easy going to Sam's Gap as the snow had almost melted away and the rest the rain had taken care of. Found a trashcan at the Gap - nothing like getting a pound lighter just by getting rid of unwanted trash. Going up Sam's Gap was very easy too - felt like I was flying compared to yesterdays sluggishness. Unfortunately the snow decided to keep me company again at Street Gap. Just before reaching that gap I had met a day-hiking couple who told me the forecast promised more snow this night. Those news gave me the tought of trying to go further than Bald Mt as the shelter there was up in higher elevation and would most definately receive a heavier load than further down below. Not that I am tired of the snow but it sure makes for some easier hiking when the snow layer is only a few inches thick. I ought to call a few professional football or Track and Field coaches and tell them the effect of doing high knees in deep snow - I feel ready for some 400 meter hurdles. Reaching the bald was a little tough as the trail was nowhere closse to being obvious and a few times I just went uphill without knowing whether I was on the trail or not. Getting close to the top the trail split - Hmm Right or Left? The left seemed like a well worn path so i decided to try it out but it seemed to be going ever so slightly downhill not what I wanted - so quickly I did a U-turn and a couple of "donuts" just for good measure - pressed the accellerator and burned some rubber going the other way. Shortly my Race boots made it up to a clear bald - all the snow had been blown off. Down to the right I could see the Wolf Laurel Skiing resort. In no time (or so it felt) I had made it to Bald Mt Shelter. Short break, took a picture of the out-of-space looking kind of privy, looks like it ought to be able to take of flying with the two black pipes sticking out from underneath the ground all the way up in the air past the top of the Privy. The snow was getting deeper again and the trail exxtremly hard to find as the blazes were few and old and the trees were already naturally white mottled. With trial and error - getting pretty good at it by now I got down to a snow free Whistling Gap. feeling great I continued to Spivey Gap, where a great looking campsite was off to the side not far from a good water source and no snow or mud on the ground. It sure was tempting as it was now 17:00 and it would get dark in an hour and a half. However, trying to make it twenty miles also sounded appealing as it probably would rain instead of snow down here in the lower elevation. Off I went and that was with a whooping race speed - did 4.7 mi in one hour and forty minutes!!! I was pretty impressed with myself, and in twenty minutes after that I had unpacked, changed clothes, stretched, AND cooked dinner! It was just a great day. After black beans and rice, two bowls of soup, a nice dessert, no skunk, no dogs, and only one shy mouse I went to sleep.