Date: 2003-04-10
From: New Found Gap, Gatlinburg, Tn

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

Mom and Jack dropped me off at the trail today in an absolute blizzard. I could tell that it was hard for mom to let me leave in such cold and snowy conditions. I tried to assure her that I'd be fine. Thanks mom and Jack for the fun 2 days together. I love you. You are a wonderful mother.In all honesty, I was pretty worried when I started today. I didn't know if walking into this storm was a good idea or not. But, I just kept reminding myself that I'm growing as a person by getting out of the safe old comfort zone. It is from these experiences that one can learn the most about about oneself. At least that's what I've heard. I hope that it's true!! I decided to make a plan for the day. First, I'd hike to the shelter which was three miles in. Once at the shelter, I'd decide if I could safely stay the night. If not, I would have plenty of time to return to the road and back to town. I was playing it cautious. Anyway, off I started in the wind and snow. The wind quickly calmed when I started the trail and wasn't much of a problem since the trees offered a fair amount of protection. The snow wasn't too bad either. It looked absolutely beautiful on the trees. Unfortunately, the snow covered branches often were draped across the trail which made travel much more challenging. I often got a load of snow dumped on me from miscalculating my pack height. By the time I arrived at the shelter at 1:15, there was about 6" of snow on the ground and the wind was blowing 20-30 mph.There was one guy at the shelter when I arrived. He was breaking up branches to build a fire. I helped him until my hands turned numb from the cold. We were both bummed when he was not successful with igniting the wet wood.I was curious if I could get warm in my sleeping bag so I jumped in about 2:30. Shortly thereafter, a gal arrived, looking more like a snowwoman than a hiker. She was in good spirits. We talked a bit and then I dozed off for a nap. My bag was warm enough for my body but my feet were a bit cold.The snow continued to fall all afternoon. At 4 pm, I was still considering a return to town. If my feet were cold now, they would surly be cold after dark. Minutes later, 2 guys showed up absolutely covered from head to toe in snow. They had come from the north and reported up to 3 foot drifts. I was worried about one of them because he was obviously cold. He quickly changed into dry clothes and jumped in his bag to warm up.With the snow drift report, I decided that this was my home for the night. I made some chicken noodle soup and jumped back in bed. Nap # 2 followed. My feet were a bit warmer.I decided to try adding more socks but that didn't work. Some people say that wearing clothes in the sleeping bag traps the heat on your body and doesn't allow your bag to warm up. Maybe that was the case. I toook off some of my socks and decided to wrap my extra rain tarp around the feet end of my bag. Glad to report that the feet are roasty toasty now. It's 9pm and I'm wide awake, thanks to my 2 naps. I've already had a visit from a local. The 105 lumens from the Surefire (flashlight) took care of him but I'm sure he'll be back soon.Here are my current feelings:20% of me feels excitement/thrill - I've never done this before.15% of me feels nervous/fear - there is danger involved any time you deal with mother nature55% of me feels confident that I have made the right decision to be here.10% of me feels that there's a chance that I'm a complete idiot! Perhaps I could be learning just as much about myself on a beach in Maui :-)And, of course, 100% of me knows that God loves me and continuously offers me His grace. For that I am truly blessed.I'm considering Ian's suggestion for a trailname. What do you think of Longstep? It has been snowing and blowing for several hours now. There is at least 8 inches of snow on the ground. We may be stranded here tomorrow. We have all of the necessities...food, water, and shelter. We'll be fine.Peace,Scot