Date: 2023-02-20
From: Green Corner Rd TN

To: Hot Springs NC
Miles today: 33.0

Well, Thursday, February 16 finally arrived, and I got back on the trail. Since then, I have been pretty busy, and I have not had time to make a log entry. My first day on the trail, I hiked from green corner Road to groundhog Creek shelter. On my way there, I crossed Snowbird Mountain, where there is a FAA transmission tower that has something to do with air traffic control. That was about the only place that I had any view to speak of. My original plan was to go 3 miles beyond groundhog creek shelter, but the forecast was for heavy rain, and I opted to stay at the shelter rather than tent camp for that night. Although it made for a shorter and easier day for me, it made my second day on the trail longer than I would have liked it to be. It turns out that my second day was a 13-mile and very strenuous day. Although it did not rain a lot in the earlier part of the day, by the time I made it to Max patch, and actually before, I was hiking in the snow. In the early afternoon, I completed my second day which was February 17. The temperatures started plummeting. As I crossed Max patch, there was no one around at all. In fact, that whole day, I only saw one lone female hiker, headed in the opposite direction. By about 3 PM, the temperature was in the mid-20s. My goal was to make it to Walnut Mountain shelter even though I had seen some reviews indicating that it was not a very good shelter to stay in. Its location was where I needed to be to put me in position to be able to make it to Hot Springs the following evening. The weather was continuing to get colder, and the wind was blowing very strong and it continued to snow. My water bottle froze around 4 PM and I was not able to drink any water after that. By the time I made it to Walnut Mountain shelter at 4:40 PM, there was snow all over the sleeping deck of the shelter, and there were a lot of openings between the logs of the shelter that allowed wind to go through. But at that point, I had no choice but to stay there.My clothes were partially wet and as soon as I stopped, I started getting cold. I spread my sleeping, set up out as quickly as I could, and crawled into my 0° sleeping quilt by 5 PM. I was able to stay mostly warm throughout the night and did not get up except to go to the bathroom. I stayed inside my sleeping bag for 15 1/2 hours before I got up and got my pack back together and started walking. As long as I was inside my sleeping bag I was fine but as soon as I got out of my sleeping bag the cold started getting to me pretty quickly. By the time I got started moving again my fingers were getting numb and hurting. But after packing for a little while, my fingers started feeling better. I hadn¢t had any water since before 4 PM the evening before, and I knew I was at risk of becoming dehydrated. I got back on the trail about 7:50 AM on Saturday, February 18, I¢d probably walked for an hour or more before I came to a water source. The water source wasn¢t actually even listed on any of the guidebooks or the far out app. But I could hear the water running, so I climbed down off the trail to get to the water that was coming out of the spring. I was able to quickly filter the water and drink about a liter right off the bat, before filling two more liters. My initial plan for Friday was to make it all the way into Hot Springs and stay at laughing heart hostel, but after I had been hiking about 2 or 3 miles, I began to realize that I was just too fatigued to make it 13 miles. So I called Jason Turney Shuttle Service and he sent out his associate Michelle to pick me up at Garenflo Gap. I am so glad I made that decision because I was pretty worn out from the day before as well as the night before. I was able to get a good night¢s rest at the hostel. On Sunday, February 19, I was able to get the same shuttle driver to take me back to Garenflo Gap and I slack packed the remaining 6.2 miles back to my hostel. I was back at the hostel by 11:30 AM and had a good restful day. I plan to get back on the trail on Monday, February 20 and make it to Spring Mountain shelter, which is about 11 miles. I have enjoyed my two nights at laughing heart hostel and have gotten to meet some really cool hikers.