Date: 2018-03-22
From: Va 311 intersection with Appalachian Trail 

To: Campbell ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs shelter
Miles today: 4.4

we got a somewhat late start, and didn¢t get on the trail until about 1:15 PM. The trail was moderat to easy for the first 2 miles or so. We crossed our first hiker, trail name Crockett. He started in Pennsylvania and is going down to Springer Mountain. Good luck Crockett! The temperature was in the mid 40s with the sun shining. There was about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground, but the trail was pretty  clear. We stopped at one of the shelters along the way just to take a break. There we met Kyle, who was a section hiker, and three other hikers from Michigan. Also section hikers. We rested for a while and filled up our water bottles. Thanks to the crew from Michigan for filtering our water for us! We ate a snack and got back on the trail. So far I was surprised at how easy it was. I was about to change my mind.  For the next two hours or so, I don¢t think we took a step on level ground  or downhill. It was all uphill. I¢m not sure how many feet it was, but it was very difficult. We finally got to the top of McAfee¢s knob, and the views were fantastic. Everything was covered with snow, huge icicles hanging off of the knob! We took a few pictures, and the wind started to pick up. We started to make our way down to Campbell¢s shelter.  Here, it was all downhill, but the trail was covered with snow.  Sometimes over a foot deep. One other person had broken the trail for us, but it had iced back over. It was very difficult walking, and sometimes difficult to tell where the trail was. Looking for white blazes in a white, winter wonderland can be very difficult. There was snow on the ground, the snow was stuck to the trees, it was stuck to every branch. It took us another hour to get to Campbell shelter. By the time we got there, there was very little sunshine left, and we were on the eastern side of the ridge  so starting to get dark. Unexpectedly, the wind started to pick up, and blew exceedingly hard. The temperature began to drop. We started a fire, but soon realized it was too cold and too windy to sit around.  We figured we were the only two crazy enough to be out in this weather, and we were the only two at the shelter, so we decided to pitch our tent inside the shelter. We thought it would be wise to try to block some of the wind so that we could sleep in some sort of comfort. My friend¢s tent was not free standing, so we had some bungee cords and  tied it to the center post of shelter and the wall. The only problem was, the face of it could not be zipped shut. Mine was free standing so I could close it off. We made a quick hot supper, he had miso soup, I had mashed potatoes. And we crawled in bed for the night. We had as much clothes as we could comfortably put on, as well as hats scarves and had our coats covering  our feet. It was a little chilly at first, but it seemed like it was going to be fairly comfortable. I woke up at 5 AM or so, with my feet cold, and the rest of my body getting a little chilled. It¢s a bad feeling when you¢re cold, and there are no more clothes to put on, no blanket to cover with, and you can¢t turn up the heat! I knew with our tents facing east, that when the sun came up, it would heat up our tents. But that was going to be another hour and a half to two hours.  I fell asleep somewhere around 7 AM I think. I woke up at 9 o¢clock and I was very warm and very comfortable. The sun was out, and it heated up my tent. It felt great! We had made it through the night!