Date: 2007-04-15
From: Icewater Spring Shelter, NC

To: Davenport Gap, NC
Miles today: 15.7

This is very long. A LOT happened today.Alright, so last nite was the most miserable and painful nite I've had out here. Of course it was self-inflicted when I had to make the choice of getting warmversus hanging my hammock in a cold windy downpour that I had been hiking in foran hour.Here's what it felt like to sleep on a surface in which your body is forced toconform to its shape instead of sleeping in a hammock, which conforms to yourbody's shape.(meaning no pressure points to hurt)PAIN!! That about sums it up. LOL I endured my hips, lower back, legs, and shouldershurting, as well as muscles in my back getting Charlie Horses..OUCH! I moved 90degrees about every 30 minutes when I couldn't bare it any longer. Back, side,stomach (I NEVER sleep on my stomach), side, back, and over and over again. Ilooked like a crocodile doing its deathroll in the water when it is drowning itsprey. LOLI got up @ 4:00 a.m. to water the leaves and the fog was SO thick I couldn't seemore than a few feet in front of me. The rain would come and go all nite. WhenI was out there, I seriously looked for 2 trees\objects that I could hang from,but I didn't walk away from the shelter, because it was so foggy, I was worriedI'd get disoriented and not be able to find my way back. Nothing right @ theshelter. I know there was a place up towards the trail though, I just couldn'tsee it, so I hesitently went back inside. I grabbed my dry rainpants and sleepingbag liner and tried to place them undermy shoulder blades and lower back for some cushion. Pretty much did nothing. I think I "could" sleep in a shelter comfortably, but I would need one of theinflatable sleeping pads for sure, which inflates to like 10" LOL (that wouldprobably only weigh about 9 lbs huh). I hope this exact situation does notarise again, but if it does, I may have to suck it up and hang in that weatherso I can get some rest, but only after I get warm. Both Persistent and I areextremely weary and paranoid of becoming hypothermic out here. It is difficultto regulate your temps, and you will get sweaty. Add to that the ever changingweather, and this could be a very dangerous place. We both happen to be on thecold side most of the time, so warmth is what we both happen to consider ourgreatest challenge, and greatest need.Luckily, no mice and only minor snoring from others in the shelter. There were8 of us in here, and 6 were women! (cool!)It was in the 40's inside the shelter, which is no warmer than in my hammock,and I had to crack open 1 handwarmer in the nite. I have never been so freakinhappy to see daylight! LOL I survived, that's what matters, and no one eversaid you'd have a perfect day or nite everytime either, so I accept it for whatit was.   My day of hiking ended up turning into the biggest test of willpower andperseverance for me. By far the most challenging day out here both mentally andphysically.I knew the weather was forecasted for showers on and off all day, and it wassupposed to get down to 31 degrees at nite. The weatherman said there was achance of snow at nite. We weren't thrilled at all with that forecast, but whenwe got up @ 7:00 a.m. it was just very foggy and misty. It was around 40degrees.We had decided we would go either to the next shelter (Cosby Shelter) which was7.7 miles away, build a huge fire and dry our still soaking wet everything out,or maybe we'd try for Davenport Gap Shelter(the last shelter in the Great SmokyMountains National Park!), which was 14.8 miles away, at a way lower elevation,and only a few miles from Standing Bear Farm Hostel. It all depended on how wewere feeling, because that 2nd option meant hiking the furthest day ever rightafter hiking a huge day for us.After putting back on cold and wet clothes, we set out at 9:18 a.m. Oh, Iaccidentally got my "dry camp socks" wet while walking to the privy thismorning! NOT happy about that! It was again, windy, wet, and overcast. The overall terrain didn't look toobad, but we had a few small climbs ahead of us.The trail was a stream, muddy sloshy mess. You try to step to the sides of thewater and thick slippery mud, but it takes a ton of energy, and since your feetare already soaked and filthy, you just end up stepping right in it. I don'tthink my shoes are going to last 500 miles! LOLI notice it is getting colder as we go up, and it is misting pretty hard. We raninto our 2nd ridgerunner, I think his name was Scattered?, and he told us theywere expecting 1-3 inches of snow tonite, so he asked us where we were comingfrom and headed to. We told him and he told us the shelters have been trashedthis year from hikers leaving trash all over. That's pretty ridiculoushonestly, people need to pick up after themselves. Ridgerunners are volunteers,not our mothers! So people, let's do our parts ok?Anywhoo, his news of snow pretty much made our decision for us, we were going toshoot for Davenport Gap Shelter, which would be our longest day yet. He told ushe figured in the lower elevations the snow wouldn't be as much of an issue. (Davenport Gap Shelter is @ 2,600 versus Cosby Knob Shelter @ 5,150 ft)It was getting colder and as we were approaching Cosby Knob Shelter, where wewanted to eat lunch, it started sleeting. Add to this the wind blowing at 20mph, and it felt like a thousand little bees stinging the left side of my face. We were both a bit concerned because it was really getting nasty outside, andyet we had so far to go still.By the time we got to the shelter for lunch, it was full blown snowing, and itwas 1:19 p.m. We were both really cold, so Persistent decided to eat a hotlunch, and I had some hot tea. I took a pic right when we got there, andanother in the same place when we left at 2:38 p.m. You won't believe thedifference! Check it out when the pics are posted.So we were eating lunch, and another hiker comes in with a wild look in his eye. It was Hartley Houndog, and he couldn't move his hands. I think he wasdangerously close to being hypothermic. Persistent unclasped his pack buckles,I gave him two hand warmers and offered him my hot tea. He actually just wantedto hold the hot cup, so I let him as long as he needed. He said his hands andfeet were freezing. By this time, Persistent fired up the stove again, just totry to dry her socks some, so Hartley Houndog also used some of that heat. Hehad a rough previous day, got off on the wrong trail, which is easy to do in theGSMNP, and he ended up going 10.6 miles out of the way!   We talked to him a bit and found out he had just retired from the police forceafter 20 years. A REALLY nice guy. We told him we had just decided we were NOTspending another nite in the Smoky's (which meant we were now going even furtherthan Davenport Gap Shelter!). He said he didn't know if he could make it, butas we all sat there and talked (and he got warmer), he got his confidence back. Next thing we know, he's throwing his pack on and goes, "If you two brave girlscan do this, so can I." With a smile on his face he stepped out. We were allheaded to the hostel Standing Bear Farm, and we told him to let them know we'dbe there. In the meantime, Persistent had called the hostel to see if there would bespace. We were told they were not going to turn anyone away. Persistent askedif it was snowing there, and the woman said no but it was probably headed herway.So at 2:38 p.m., we headed out again. I added my Micro-Puff vest, balaclava (afull face mask I only usually wear for sleeping on cold nites) and my last 2hand warmers, which we discovered do not work if they get damp. I also decidedto experiment with creating vapor barriers for my feet.It is a fancy name for enclosing your feet in a plastic sack, then putting yoursocks on, and then your shoes. The purpose is that your feet will be wetanyways, but in a vapor barrier, they are wet due to your feet being hot andsweating, BUT, the key word is hot. You can have cold wet feet, or warm wetfeet. I opted for warm. Besides, my feet already loked like shriveled upprunes from hiking 2 days in water.So, we head out, it is snowing like CRAZY, and we still have one more mountainto climb, Mt. Cammemere @ about 5300 ft. I'll be honest, I was nervous headingout, we were going up in elevation, the snow was coming down hard, and I hadconcerns of not being able to see the white blazes, running into whiteoutconditions, or somehow getting off trail like our poor friend Hartley Houndog.We took it as fast as we could with caution. I watched the temp drop from 35degrees to 24 in a matter of an hour, and this did not include the windchill! Icould see footprints in the trail, but the snow was accumulating fast. Luckily,the white blazes were still easy to see.It actually was beautiful, but hard to focus on when we were in potentiallydangerous conditions.We were hitting snow, ice, water, and everything, but eventually it was allsnow. The drinking tube on my hydration system started freezing up, so I had tohike with the tube in my mouth and take constant sips, then blow hot air backinto it. At one point, I zoned out and didn't do that for a few minutes, and itwas too late. Ice chunks had formed in my water bottles too. Persistent knew Ihad no access to water (unless I wanted to stop and re-route my tube inside ofmy jacket to allow my body heat to keep it warm, but stopping meant gettingreally cold really fast!). She offered me sips from hers if I needed it. Iknew I was ok for a bit, because my last "watering session" had provided me thevisual clue of clear urine.We climbed and climbed, knowing after this climb, it was all downhill and tolower (and hopefully warmer) elevations.We kept checking on each other, making sure to tell each other if we startedgetting cold chills (first sign of hypothermia). Making sure the other one wasok, and encouraging each other. We had to stop twice for pee breaks. God was that awful! You lose your bodyheat SO fast, and guess what, my good buddy "Mr. Bikini Line Chaffing" was back! Ugh...The second time we stopped to pee, I decided to take drastic measures. Sopicture this, I have been hiking in horrible weather for hours. It is blowingsnow sideways, it is in the low 20's (god only knows what the windchill was.. myguess is single digits), I've got my rain pants around my ankles, and I amstanding there (totally exposed by the way from the waste down) with my tinySwiss Army Knife and I'm cutting the crotch out of my spandex, so the seamswon't rub anymore! LOL So now I've got these (almost falling apart) crotchlessspandex on under my rain pants! LOL I can only imagine what that scene wouldhave looked like to someone passing by! LOLBy now, my hands were totally frozen, it was getting close to 5:00, and we wereabout an hour away from Davenport Gap Shelter. We both decided we'd stop @ theshelter and make a decision to move on or not. See, you can hike another 3miles to the hostel, but we didn't know if it was well-marked, and we certainlydidn't want to run out of daylight. We were also getting very tired and cold.About 6:00 p.m., we got to the shelter to find a very nice hiker named Tony(from D.C.). I came up with the brilliant idea of calling the hostel to see ifthey provided shuttles from Davenport Gap (only .9 miles further as opposed to 3miles). This shelter was a wind tunnel, apparently Wine? Oh!(a woman who carriesa drinking bladder full of wine) and Turtlefoot had been thru earlier andstarted a fire for Tony, but it was a frigid scene.We asked Tony if we were able to get a shuttle if he wanted to go with us. Hesaid "YES!! I can have all my stuff packed up in 15 minutes!" So Persistent called (by the way, she has Verizon which has ALWAYS connectedwhen we really needed it. I have Cingular, and it has been almost non-existentservice in North Carolina.) YES we could get a shuttle! It was 6:15 p.m., andthey said someone would be @ Davenport Gap at 7:15 p.m.Just before we threw our packs on, Tony adjusted his ballcap and I noticed hehad a shaved head and no insulating hat. I asked him if he was warm enough likethat. He said he had a knit cap, but sent it home in Georgia when it got intothe 80's. He didn't think it would get this cold again. (NEVER send cold weathergear home AT LEAST until you are thru the Mt. Rogers recreation area inVirginia.)Since I was wearing my balaclava, I had my knit cap stuffed inside my micro-puffvest to keep it dry. I gave it to Tony to wear, and I was so happy he accepted,because it was getting dark soon, temps were dropping, and he really neededsomething on his head. We threw our packs back on and headed down the final .9 of the day (you have NOidea how relieved we all wereto know we would be warm and safe in a heated environment where hypothermiawould not be an issue).We got down to Davenport Gap at 6:50 p.m., and it was snowing like crazy theretoo, along with the wind. Persistent and I started getting cold fast, whichwasn't good. So, we started (almost) running around in a big circle with ourpacks on to try to build up enough body heat. Tony was still ok. 7:00, 7:15, 7:30 rolls around, still no shuttle, and we are exhausted from (notonly hiking 15.7 LONG miles) but jogging in place for 40 minutes. By this time,I can barely move my hands (which were in gloves by the way, but everything wassoaked). So Persistent calls again, and she was told they didn't know hiswhereabouts, but he was on the way.I am starting to consider trying hitching, there were a few cars going by fromtime to time. Persistent and Tony agreed we needed to do something soon (shewas now resorting to hiking up and down the trail to stay warm).Finally, at 7:45 p.m. (those 55 min. felt like an eternity, there was no coverfrom the wind) a van pulls up and Curtis (owner of Standing Bear Farm Hostel)pops the trunk and we climb in.It was at this moment that I realized how wet I really was, how cold I hadreally gotten, how totally depleted of energy I was (more so than at any othertime), and how much I needed to get warm. We had not eaten dinner, but it wasthe last thing on my mind. I needed to be warm.I figured the hostel would be bulging @ the seams with this weather, so I askedCurtis how full they were. I figured if it was full, I had no problem with justhaving them take us to a motel either. Heat was the only thing on my mind. Hesaid they were almost full, but were fine.So we pull up, and he told us he'd be back after he figured out where we werestaying. Standing Bear Farm has a bunkhouse w\15 bunks, and a cabin that cansleep 6. Everything seemed really hectic, and we weren't sure where to go orwhat to do. In the meantime, my teeth were chattering and I knew this wasgetting bad. We just walked into the bunkhouse, which is heated by a woodburning stove (so it is still very chilly in there). All the hikers sitting infront of it immediately got out of the way when they saw us (Thanks everyone!). We sat down, and all I wanted was to know where my "spot" was for the nite, so Icould change and get warm.About 10 minutes later, a helper who lives there (non-hiker, does whitewaterrafting locally and does chores at the hostel) comes in and tells us that wewill be placed in the loft of the cabin. And then (to me) the worst news cameout of another hiker's mouth (who was also in the cabin). THERE IS NO HEAT INTHIS CABIN!!! I about lost it. THE only thing that got me thru this horrific day was knowingwe'd be in a heated environment, so I could get my body back to a normaltemperature. I looked at Persistent and flat out told her I didn't know if thiswas going to work, because I could not get warm, even in front of the woodstovein the bunkhouse, so I didn't know how it would be with zero heat on a very coldnite. She agreed.   Then there was some confusion about where we were being placed afterall, soPersistent went outside and talked to Curtis. She asked him if we could justget a ride to a motel (several hikers told us they had taken some other hikersto a motel earlier in the evening, so we assumed it was an option). She did notget a positive reaction (and we certainly meant no disrespect, but they were sopacked and stressed and we thought it would serve everybody's needs the best andjust be the easiest thing for everyone). Persistent came back in and said he was thinking about it, and would let usknow. So we weren't sure what to do now. We're still sitting in soaked coldclothes, not sure if there is space for us. Finally after sitting there foranother 10 minutes, we realized he wasn't coming back to tell us anything. Turtlefoot (who was in the cabin) came over and happen to mention she overhearda conversation that we were staying in it. So, we just grabbed our packs,changed into dry clothes (in the bunkhouse) and walked over to the cabin.I'll admit, I have never been in such a foul mood on this entire hike. PoorPersistent had to endure my rant, and whereas she agreed with everything I said,she kept her cool in an attempt to calm me down. My intention is not to dog or disrespect any place that serves hikers, however,it is my opinion that it should be in the guidebook that accomodations areunheated, especially the first hostel coming out of the Smokys. Had we knownthis, we would have just asked for a shuttle to a motel and saved everyone thehassel. We found out the weathermen were calling this snowstorm a Noreaster, so it wasworse than was originally forecasted 3 days before, which was the info we had togo by.There were other details that I am not writing about, but I felt very negativeenergy here. Maybe my problem, maybe not. Extremely long story short, we made the best of the situation, I called Rachaeland let all of my emotions out, which made me feel a whole lot better. Weaccepted that this was still better than being out in the mountains, but alsoagreed we are going to ask again tomorrow, if we can get a shuttle to a moteland take a few days off to recoop from the insanity. And we are going to crankthe heater up as high as it will go! LOL We appreciated SO MUCH that they had a shuttle (and we let them know this) andthere are other VERY cool things about this place that I will talk abouttomorrow. For now, my priority is the same, trying to get warm. Exhausted.....~Certain