Date: 2010-04-27
From: Hogback ridge shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: 280.35

Well, we woke up early this morning with the intentions of hiking nearly 21 miles to No Business Knob Shelter. Our obstacles included:        -Rain forecasted all day;        -Big Bald Mountain (5,516 ft.) nine miles out;        -Freeze advisory for the night; and        -Our tent being soaking wet.So, we had one big mountain to climb on a day with rain and thunderstorms forecasted all day. We also could not tent wherever we wanted since our tent was soaked and our remaining dry gear was limited. So we HAD to find a shelter to stay in for the night. One was 10 miles away and another was over 20 miles away. The one 10 miles away was at 5,100 feet, which with a freeze warning in effect on a day where everything you own is wet, is not a good idea. Dangerous almost. So we either had to stay put or push for the 20 miles. We chose to go for it and left out of camp at 8am. I was in the lead all day and I pushed hard all day to make sure our pace would keep us above 2 mph even though we were climbing mountains with packs on. It¢s a hard pace to pull. I say this after investing nearly a month on this trail so far. It was also raining heavily with sleet mixed in. We were soaked instantly but kept pushing forward. Poor Opus was shoveling snacks into his face while we hiked because I wouldn¢t stop for snack breaks like I usually do on fair weather, low mileage days. But there was a high mountain to cross and thunderstorms on the way.        Once we reached the top of Big Bald the wind was blowing upwards of 50 mph, whipping sleet, freezing rain, and snow in our faces. We were both wet from the lower elevation rain and staying anywhere near the top was downright dangerous with the limited gear we had. Once we cleared the top we gained some reprieve in the brush only to be punished again the last half mile across the shoulder of the bald. The sleet picked up to white-out volume and the wind took every bit of frozen ice and whipped it at our exposed faces and legs. It stung terribly and we hiked with our faces down and tried to shield them with our hands. It seemed to take forever, but we finally reached the trees which gave us a slight break in the wind speed. Once we reached the shelter we were half frozen and stunned. But, the second we got there, we looked at each other and said, ¢Man! That was awesome! It was freakin¢ a white-out storm in the middle of Tennessee!¢ It was then that I realized that Opus and I do the crazy climbing, backpacking, and mountaineering that we do to see what we can handle. And we survived the Big Bald storm with flying colors.        We spent about an hour at Big Bald Shelter warming up and eating hot food before taking off again. We hiked 10 more miles today after that in the pouring rain and finally arrived at No Business Knob Shelter at 6:30pm. We were happy to find that there were two spots left in the shelter and we quickly cooked supper and snuggled into our warm, dry sleeping bags.        What I learned about myself today was that if I didn¢t have days that tested me out here, I wouldn¢t be out here at all. And I quote¢¦        "people travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long course of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering" -St. AugustineNew People:        -Day Glo        -Blue BirdWeather: AWEFUL!         Rain, sleet, hail, freezing rain, snow, windy as hell!        COLD!