Date: 2004-02-05
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light snow

Log entry: 5Start time: 0900End time: 1545Overnight low: 36Morning weather: misty, foggy, windy, falling tempsAfternoon weather: rain/sleet/ice, fog, and wind, temp hung at 34 degEvening weather: rain and wind, fog, temp warmed up tp 37!Breakfast: cib and oats (cinnamon roll flavor)Lunch - cup of soup cream of chicken with instant riceDinner- cheddar potato soup w/ ham and croutons. Also green tea, honey flavorTrail description: muddy almost everywhere, where it wasn't, it was ice. The trail from Low gap to Blue mtn is at a very favorable grade. Enough to know you are going up, but very easy to move quickly. Very rocky and technical in some spots, a whole lot of fun. Maybe a sneak peak at Pennsylvania? People: the solemates in the am, hairless joe and midnight star at Tray mtn shelter.Wildlife: a handful of sparrowsMoney Spent: noneBiggest complaint: that I woke up...It's hard to even know where to begin.I got up on time, 0745 and cooked a hot breakfast. It tasted very good but didn't stick with me as long as the little debbie snacks usually do. I could hear the wind howling up on the ridge, but it was calm in the valley where the shelter stood. So I packed up and donned only myZip-off pants, gaiters, and a longsleeve capillene top. I bid farewell to thesolemates who planned on tenting at the cheese factory campsites. The cheesefactory sites are about 12 miles from low gap and roughly a third of the way upTray mtn.As I stepped back onto the trail, I could feel the moisture heavy in the air asthe wind hit me hard. I should have stopped here and put on my rain gear and packcover, but I did not. I figured that the moisture I felt wasn't rain but rather just the fog blowing up from the valley. Plus I did not want to stop so soon after starting.As previously stated the climb out of low gap is very friendly and I was haulingthe mail. The mist had turned to light rain and the wind picked up strong asever. I decided to stop and put on my pack cover and raincoat. Because the rain was so light I decided to not put on the rain pants but instead stick with the zip-offs. A bad choice indeed.I carried on up the mountain making great time. The rain began to fall a little harder and the temperature continued to drop. As it was, my pack cover and drawstrings from my hood were covered in ice. I remained warm but leery that I should have put on my rain pants at the very start. As the miles wore on my pants became damp and wet. The rain had turned to almost all sleet now and I made the choice to stay with the zip-offs and keep the rain pants dry, so I would have something dry to wear tomorrow. With the aid of my gaiters and my brisk pace, I was able to stay warm.Before I knew it I was at Blue Mountain Shelter. It took me a little over 2 hours to cover the 7.2 miles. It was easy to do because there were no views to stop and take a look at. I hoped to duck in out of the wind, but the opening of Blue Mountain faced into the teeth of the wind. Luckily there was some plywood that someone had propped up and I sat behind it and ate my cup of soup rice. It stayed reasonably warm in my lexan mug wrapped in my fleece. At any rate, it tasted great as I wolfed down all 1.5 cups of rice in a matter of about 4 minutes. It was a thing to behold. I then wrote a quick note in the shelter log and began to pack up. As I repacked my pack I was shivering uncontrollably, rather scary actually. I did my best to get everything to fit in my pack and against my better judgment decided to push on to Unicoi gap Tray Mountain.I really flew down into Unicoi gap, half running, half-sliding. I felt great when I hit the bottom and pushed strong up the other side for as long as I could. The sleet picked up again and the wind was especially strong on the trail side of the mountain. About a mile up the sleet and wind hit me head on, it was extremely difficult to make progress at all. A couple trees fell ahead of me and I longed for my balaclava which was buried deep in the bottom of my pack. ( a balaclava is similar to a hood, but covers your entire face save for an opening in which to see, mine also happens to be windproof) As I stood there with my head down, trying to buck the wind I thought once again of an inspirational and pivotal part of a movie I watched just before shipping out, The Edge.You will have to watch it for yourself, but there is a point in the movie after the bear attacks Charles and Bob that Charles, (Anthony Hopkins) says to Bob (Alec Baldwin?, one of the Baldwin brothers anyways) ¢Shall we lay down and die, Bob!?! Shall we? Shall we lay down and die?¢ I am not sure why that struck me then, but my tank was on empty. The climb seemed to never end and you could never tell where it did due to the thick fog. But as I stood there, shivering, face covered in ice, I thought maybe I could make one more step. That¢s pretty much how I made it up Rocky Mountain.Once summited, Rocky Mountain drops down into Indian Grave Gap. The climb down this was slippery, but I made it down uneventfully. The sleet let up for a bit but the rain then took over. By this time my gloves, which fought valiantly, had been soaked through. I have to give props to Kombi gloves, as this was the first time they had ever gotten my hands wet. So that was another strike against me. The exposed section of my thighs between my pack and gaiters stayed warm, or numb, hard to tell.I then began the LONG climb up Tray mountain. My mind was racing, not really thinking about much except that I hoped the Solemates stopped at Blue Mountain and that ¢great men do great things¢. The sleet and wind started again, which was awfully nice of them. By the sheer grace and will of God I made it to the Cheese Factory sites where the wind reached its strongest point of the day. I said a prayer for the Solemates as this was to be their destination for the day, I do hope either the weather breaks or they find sanctuary somewhere else. I named the tent sites at the Cheese Factory ¢Pseudo summit 1¢ as I was in entirely good spirits because I knew the shelter was close. Well, it isn¢t really that close. The last I checked the map and guidebook was this morning and I couldn¢t remember how much further I had to go. So on I pressed until I got to ¢pseudo summit 2¢, also known as Tray Gap. This was almost the low point of the day because I figured I had climbed Tray mountain and they would build the shelter in the gap. Wrong on both accounts. I spent a few pointless minutes looking around the area for a shelter but found nothing of the sorts. I then made my way to the big sign which displayed a map of the Tray Mountain wilderness. Most of the glass was covered in ice and it was hard to read but I could see just a tiny bit which said, ¢From where you stand it is approximately 1 mile to the summit of Tray Mountain¢. My heart sank, in all seriousness I did not think I had enough left in the tank to make it up the mountain. I looked around as the sleet continued to fall and knew that I could crawl inside my bag and bivy sack and still be warm, but not here in the gap. The time it would take for me to unpack would be too long and all my gear would be quickly encompassed in ice, so up I went.The climb is steep for I would guess 34 of a mile and then turns to rock steps. These rock steps were now solid ice and more ice continued to fall. The summit, which seemed like the coolest place on earth probably, offered 360-degree views, but not today. As soon as I reached it I continued right down the backside, which was much harder than going up, and going up was a chore mind you.There is a section where there is exposed rock and it was covered in a sheet of ice. On either side was thick undergrowth, which made a re-route or bushwhack attempt impossible. I stood there testing and trying to plant one foot only to have it slip and another only to have to do the same. It seemed like the end of the line. I had roughly 12 feet to cover, all down hill, all ice. I tried motivating myself, ¢Shall I stand here and die, Ben!¢. I must have said that 3 times before I noticed about 6 sparrows in the brush ahead, my mind then went to Matthew 10:30-31, which says, ¢Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. So don¢t be afraid; for you are worth far more than many sparrows¢. Thanks God, I needed that.So I took s feeble step and it held, then another, then another. It took I guessed 10 minutes but I made it down. More of the same until finally I saw the sign for the shelter. I was so relieved. The story doesn¢t end here folks¢¦As I made my way up to it I was greeted by a small black dog, Midnight Star I came to find out. I guessed her breed to be part woodchuck, part skunk. She didn¢t smell like a skunk, but rather looked like one. Then a hairy, kind face appeared out from under a wool blanket, Hairless Joe, the class of 1982. He was out on a month adventure traipsing around the Tray mountain wilderness area. What a nice dude. I went to fetch water before drying out and unpacking. Once back at the ranch, I unrolled my bivy and put my sleeping bag inside. I put on my long johns and a fleece top. Once in my bag, I was warm and comfy. And once my stove fired up I knew that I was going to be okay. A dinner of Cheddar potato soup complete with ham and croutons filled me up. A warm mug of Honey tea kept me warm as I put my things away. I don¢t even like tea.So 18:00 rolled around, (six o¢clock) and I was out like a light. Warm, dry, and alive.What do great men do Andy? Great men do great things by the grace and will of the Lord.