Date: 2015-03-29
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: clear sky

Another freezing uncomfortable night. Very cold, even inside the shelter. Constant draft inside sleeping bag, since the quilt design doesn't seal me up inside properly. My recommendation for future AT hikers: take the warmest sleeping bag and liner that you can! Even people in 0 degree bags are having a cold time at the moment. Everyone is wearing multiple layers to sleep in (another complaint is that they have no pillow, because it is usually made up of spare clothes).Chef woke up very early because he was freezing in his sleeping bag (rated to 20F) and he left by about 6.30am. I stayed hiding and trying to stay as warm as possible for a little longer. My boots were a little less frozen today but still quite solid. Brightside could actually wear hers today, so that was good.The Rhode Island Express had a morning fire going, which made breakfast a bit more bearable. I had 2 packs of oats and 2 poptarts for breakfast. The water was really far away from the camp, so I had a bit of an extra trek to try to warm my boots up. I was one of the last to leave at about 8am.The sun was out again, but my sunscreen was still frozen. My camelbak was frozen again, as well as my water bottle. At least I was able to get a bit of water in the morning, which was needed for the uphill climb. About half of the day was uphill, with some seriously steep climbs. It was harder than it should have been because of all the ice, snow and mud. There were many times when I went gliding across the trail. Before lunchtime, we climbed a big bald which was called Big Bald. It was quite spectacular at the top. The bad weather had covered all the grass, posts and trees with thick ice. From the top we could also see Max Patch from a couple days ago, and even the Smokies. The sun was shining, though it was still freezing. On the descent, we could hear the constant noise of trees shedding their icicles which sounded a lot like glass shattering. Then we reached the shelter, which was a very fancy one with a loft- the first I have seen since the Smokies. But we were just staying for lunch. My Nutella was still solid but I made the best of it. From there we still had 10 miles to go with a couple steep climbs. After the climbs, the last 5 miles were relatively smooth but seemingly endless. After mile 15, my toes started to ache for some reason. I also got my first blister for a few days. The liners have been doing a good job so far, though they're white so they're incredibly dirty already.By the time I reached the shelter, I was extremely glad. The 20 mile days feel so endless, and my feet really don't like them at all. My mind gets very bored too. Worst of all, I was very hungry but had no food spare. When I got to the shelter at about 4.30pm, I started eating my Nutella, still solid, straight from the jar. Most people out here do that with peanut butter, but I just can't eat it straight like that.It's just the Rhode Island Express, Brightside and I in the shelter today. It's the fewest people we've ever had. It's probably a good thing, because the shelter is poorly equipped. No bear cables, no privy, no water source for at least half a mile. Everyone has hung their food bags inside the shelter, so it'll be interesting to see what damage the mice have done in the morning. Tomorrow we will be heading into Erwin, a day later than I had planned for, though fortunately I had an extra days worth of food (but not snacks). It's 6 miles in, and then 6 miles out later on (after gorging on food and resupplying). We've also been told that Fresh Ground isn't far- we will see him on Tuesday hopefully! A funny story from yesterday. Everyone was talking about what they would be doing in Erwin, and all of us except Voltron had already decided that we wouldn't be staying the night. Voltron had said that we could get showers and laundry done for about $10 or a shower for $5. One of the Rhode Island boys said that they didn't really need a shower yet, and the others agreed. The last time any of us showered was days ago! But after the long smelly stint in the Smokies without a shower, it's changed our perceptions about when a shower or laundry is necessary. It also helps that all of us smell equally bad, so we can't even tell just how disgusting we all are until we run into people who aren't thru hiking and have had recent showers and laundry.