Date: 2018-12-11
From: Woods Hole Shelter, GA

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: overcast clouds

It was very cold last night. My feet were cold, the rest of me chilly. I thought it was the dampness but later found out it was just too cold. I decided to put my stove in the tent since it was so cold. The stove is a small reservoir I pour the fuel in then I place the top on. There are holes all around the top like a gas stove. The reservoir sits in a round tray that I pour fuel in also. When I light it the heat warms the reservoir fuel so that it evaporates and comes out of the holes. That is what feeds the flame. It took a lot of fuel to get the evaporation and even then I drank lukewarm coffee. Several times in the past I got the temperature in the tent up to 90. Today only 20 degrees. It was cold out! The winds started overnight. I reached out of my tent and found my shoes frozen. When I got up to get all my gear hanging to dry all was frozen. I put my damp fleece jacket on and the frozen rain jacket over it. I put convertible pants on then slid the frozen rain pants over them. I put a bagel bag on each sock then pressed hard to get my feet into the boots. I did not want to get going but I knew I had to. I got packed then headed the .4 up the hill to the AT in the dark using my headlamp. The backpack felt like a frozen board against my back. It was windy so I kept my head down and away from the wind. I was sincerely worried about frostbite since I was wet and it was so cold. I thought about Hash getting frostbite a few weeks ago. I thought about the book "To Build a Fire." When I reached the AT at the ridge the horizon was orange. It was 6:39. The sky was clear and I knew it was to be sunny. I wanted the sun to hit me and warm me up. About 20 minutes into the hike the sun came up and the trail veered away from the wind. About an hour into the hike I was warm enough to take the poncho off. I was feeling better and warmer. The first climb took me up again into ice covered trees. Looked like some had 2 inches on them. Some branches on the trail but nothing terrible. Then the trail dropped and the snow depth lessened. At Woods Gap there were trash cans but it was too windy to stop so I continued across the highway. I warmed up enough to take my rain jacket off. About a mile later I met Tanner and his girlfriend Taylor. They were hiking the Georgia Loop. They were heading back to their vehicle because it was so cold last night. They met Toots and SOS at a shelter last night. He said everyone was so cold. Toots and SOS are finishing the trail today. Tanner said up ahead there is no snow nor wind. They congratulated me which reminded me again how close I was to finishing and I felt teary eyed. I continued on the trail and the snow disappeared as the trail dropped. I went through a beautiful forest of Holly trees. It became warm enough I didn't even need a jacket. No snow anywhere and it was warm. It felt so good. When I left today I did not know how far I'd get with the snow. I needed to do 14. The next shelters were at 11 miles or 19. When the trail became good I decided to push to the 19 miles. Going up Justus Mountain I ran into snow again but no ice. I put my jacket and gloves back on. When I dropped down into Hightower Gap there were military vehicles there and some soldiers. The national forest is used by the military for training maneuvers. I went up the next hill getting water along the way. I came to Hawk Mountain Shelter at about 5:40. I was so pleased I made it. After I had my tent set up in the shelter I looked out to see a waxing crescent moon. Such a beautiful ending after a mixture of struggles and emotions today. This is my last campsite on the AT. I am now just 8.1 miles from the end at Springer Mountain.