Date: 2013-04-04
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: light rain

We heard owls through the night having a wild get together doing what owls do, and it was an awesome display of emotion. Other than that, it rained for half the night and was raining when we woke up. I went to get my food back off the beat bag line and found it was frozen solid with icicles hanging off it. We'd all heard there was a possibility of rain, but nothing of freezing. There was a sheet of ice around everything. We all talked about what to do, but it came down to getting up and just doing it. Only Radagasgar and Lt. Coocoo bird and K2 Summit decided to stay there for a shelter zero day. This was partly because Radagasgar had a hurt ankle that needed rest.So everyone started leaving the shelter, into the freezing rain and wind and wetness. I took a few pictures of the frozen landscape with the shining bushes and leaning tree limbs. I'd heard on TV at the hotel that a warming trend was developing over the area. However, there was nothing warm about anything that day. The rain drizzled and poured for most of the day, adding to the thickness of the ice sheet over everything, most importantly the tree limbs. As the day went on I started hearing and seeing limbs crashing to the ground, stressed to their limits by the heavy ice sheet. I'm hiking down the trail, minding my own damn business when I hear this crashing of ice and wood. I turned in a circle, trying to see where it was coming from so I would know which way to dive for my life. A tree fell behind me and missed me by about 10 feet. Scared the livin' daylights out of me. Then I heard another crash in front if me, and a deep crack of a tree trunk. It was getting scary out. As the trees got heavier limbs broke, trees fell, and I couldn't judge where it was all coming from, thinking one was really close to giving me yet another unwelcome head injury. I finally got to the shelter and our old friend Sunshine was there, along with a few other hikers, keeping the three sided shelter warm.   When I arrived at the shelter I was soaking wet. The only rain gear I had on was my shell jacket, but somehow every garment I had on was wet. I had just walked through 6.8 miles of freezing rain on a 30 degree day. My knees were chattering, I was so wet and cold. All of the hikers in the shelter were already tucked into their sleeping bags, looking nice and toasty. I tried to cook food, but I was so cold I couldn't even concentrate, a warning sign of hyperthermia. So I decided to get into my sleeping bag too. I knew I had to get out of my wet clothes, so I stealthily pulled my undershorts off in the sleeping bag while everyone talked. There were two women in the shelter, so I couldn't just undress. I had to be inconspicuous. That's all good and fine, except when your bag has a giant hole underneath, and you lift it with your knees, pulling the bag up over your bare ass to get your leg through a pair of twisted bike shorts, someone is gonna see the moon. I think I lit the room about four times trying to untwist my underpants to get them on. I finally got dressed into my long johns under dry short pants, since my long pants were drenched. I put on dry socks and I was good to go, except I was still cold. It took me a good two hours to get warm, and that's in a 20 degree bag, with an additional 20 degree sleeping bag insert, which between the two have kept me very warm every night. The limbs and trees kept crashing in the woods, and our shelter was hit several times. Sunshine and her guy and their two dogs gave up their shelter spaces so other hikers could fit. Within about an hour they came back to tell us a limb hit their tent, splitting the side. They borrowed some repair supplies and fixed it until they could get it to an outfitter or get a new one. Since the shelter soon filled up, they moved their tent next to the shelter putting them out of harms way from a falling wood death. Once I finally warmed up, a couple of new hikers showed up dripping wet and cold. A good samaritan group of hikers invited them in with open arms that were not mine. I'm really happy they have a safe place to sleep out of the freezing weather, but I can no longer straighten my legs. I'm ready for the cramps to begin. Mr. "come on in out of the rain" is gettin' one right in the side of his chest if my leg cramps and I have to straighten it real quick.I really think today was the coldest I've been on this hike. I hope the end is near for cold weather, but I still have to go through the 6,000 plus feet of elevation of the Great Smoky Mountains. I'm warm finally, so I think I'll dream of something more pleasant, like straightening and stretching my legs.;-)