Date: 2007-02-18
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter, NC

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter, NC
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

Woke up around 11am to about 6 inches of snow and a howling wind. It only got down to around 20 degrees last night and it was still about that cold; but, the sun was shining! That is always a plus. I drank my coffee and ate some oatmeal; which is really starting to disgust me. Just as I was getting ready to leave a section hiker came in. I said hello and took off. Immediately my nose froze up. It hurt, it felt like it seized. Man, it's cold. In the places where the wind blew through the night there were 2 foot drifts. Im not exaggerating, either. This hike today was going to be the real deal. As I got to the top of Cheaoh Bald, I met "North Georgia Johnnie". He was day hiking taking pictures. I asked if he would e-mail me some. I then moved on as I had a long way to go. The bald was absolutely beautiful. I mean snow in every direction. At times, I am glad I started my thru hike this early. As I kept going, I saw 2 peoples footprints in the snow ahead of me. I was kind of bummed as I wanted to break the powder. After awhile, I was glad that there were people ahead of me. It was difficult to find the trail and I could see where they put their feet to avoid falls. Going down this side of the bald is very steep and at times, I was skiing. I tried to avoid going over the edge several times and barely managed. I did fall about 5 times though and I would just get powder all over me. I also would get a powder dose when I would hit over hanging trees with my pack(about a 100 times. The section to Stecoah Gap from here is a "rite of passage". It is up and down, and again. In this snow too. Thank god for the hiking poles; but, it was such an upper body workout. Finally, I slid and fell my way down to Stecoah. Ate some soup from my thermos, waved at some dude who stopped at the gap in his Camero & just stared at me and got the "Sam Hill" out of there. I was really borderline hypothermic. I was not in great shape now; but, enough to stay warm. I could not just do 4 mph to the shelter. It was about 2.5 miles away and I have the least talked about tough climb on the trail: Sweetwater Gap! The sun is going down and the .6 non-switchbacked mile to the top was grueling. I just wanted to through up. I would get to this point and stop, get going again, want to throw up. Man, it was tough. After I got to the top there were 3 more PUD's until I got to the shelter. They were just as grueling, it was getting dark, and I was kind of scared. I knew I could do it. I was so thankful that the guy in front of me had plowed through the drifts before me. I really couldnt see anything but his path. And finally there it was, the shelter. When I walked up, there was one guy named "Mr N" in the shelter. At first he said his name was BO, but I thought he said bug. I called him that several times and asked why he called himself that? He said no, Bo! Getting the water was tough. The trail was steep & icy. I did a complete nose dive when I got back to the shelter. Just soaked me and chilled me to the bone. Did my usual routine. He and I talked. Niether one of us had much human contact in weeks. Merle Haggard has a song in which he mentions his "natural prime". For years I would use this term in several ways when I was talking and joking with people. Kind of like I did that night. I said, "you know in my natural prime I did that hike all the way from the NOC". People would usually say something like, "what the hell does that mean?" But he said, "yeah, but now that your in your "forced prime"; you can barely get here from Sassafras!" I know that is corny; but, it was really fun at the time and so spontaneous. Anyway he was doing a section hike and really doing big miles: Springer to Hot Springs in 14 days! So, I knew this was it for our relationship. This was my coldest night of the trip. I just could not get completly warm. I had to constantly reheat my water bottle all night long. It was about 18 degrees, but the wind was blowing in just enough to freeze my tail off.