Date: 2008-03-20
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Last night was freezing. Seriously. I think that it was in the 20's! The wind was howling something fierce, it poured and it even snowed. There was a layer of frost all over the ground when we got up. The clothes that had been hanging were far from dry. They were in fact FROZEN! Oh yeah: crispy, crunchy, stuck stiff in the position they were left, FROZEN!I had forgotten trail mix in my pack last night so I found the bag shredded and my yummy snack spoiled. And, they must have just hung out there all night eating and shitting. Yup. My pack was full of poo too! It was pretty gross. With a morning starting like that, it was a miracle I got out of my sleepig bag at all!!!We put on all our layers and our ice cold boots (that sucks and is truly painful) and decided we were heading to the Hostel to dry out. We started hiking and the sun came out. The temperature rose. We stopped on the top of Blue Mountain and had a yard sale. Well, it wasn't really a yard sale, it just looked like one. We had all our wet gear, which was a lot, spread out on every rock and stump and tree that was in the sunshine. We hung out for well over an hour eating lunch and letting stuff dry. It was turning out to be a beautiful day and we decided that we couldn't let it pass us by. We packed up all our now dry gear and hit the trail.We cranked out nearly 15 miles today! It was in my opinion the hardest part of the trail so far. There were some really BIG climbs today. I mean climbs that force you to come up with new, unheard of curse words. Climbs that make you hurt in places you didn't know could hurt. Climbs that make you wonder "why?". It was a physically trying day.Brad discovered that our mp3 players can get FM radio. What a find! He proceeded to jam out to the 80's all day...singing AND dancing included! It added some much needed comic relief to the day.We also got our first taste, literally, of trail magic. Some kind soul hung a bag of fresh oranges on a tree limb right before a big climb. Boy did they hit the spot, so juicy and yummy. I wiped the orange juice on the armpits of my shirt in a sad attempt to freshen things up. I'd say it worked a tad, but we are in need of showers.We hiked some hellatious terrain today but I'm glad we pushed on. My feet however, are not. Blisters on both heels and on both second toes. They are painful and sore and my feet hate me right now. They are in need of some desperate TLC.   Today we met Shadow Caster who attempted to give us trailnames, as we are presently nameless. After asking us a few questions, he had some ideas for us (Brad: Splinter or Ol' Pappy (because of the beard that has overgrown his face)and for me: Trade Wind or Doc Holliday.) None seemed to sit right with us. When I told him I had decision anxiety over stuff like this he thought I should be called Xanex. It was hard to explain just how wrong that was... So, we are waiting till the right names find us. Tomorrow we are planning on heading to Cloud 9 Hostel and picking up a package, taking hot showers, and doing laundry. Oh yeah, and feasting on food made with something other than boiling water