Date: 2004-04-04
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Ranger station
Miles today: 0.0

At the beginning of this day we are beginning to think snow sucks!Andrew had to put on his frozen socks and boots. They were too soaked from yesterday and became nothing but ice. His feet were already sore from being so wet and cold the day before. His gloves, same story. We had to do twelve miles so we would only have to do eight the next day in order to get the hell out of this horrible frozen place!We dressed and left as quickly as possible. We fell 100 times yesterday but today the snow was hard like cement. It was 25 degrees out and I was nervous. I know it would hurt if we fell. We got about 2/10 of a mile from the shelter (Andrew's stomach had been bothering him). He turned around and said "I feel really sick." I was so stressed about the situation, we were at least nine miles from help and getting out of the snow, that I had to fight off crying (again). "Do you want to go back?" "No." He starts to sit in the snow. "Andrew! Should I go back for help?" "No. I'll be fine." I realize his feet and hands are frozen. "Get up! Please get up!" He shuts his eyes and starts to lay back. "I'm not going to make it." "Do you want me to go back for help?!" "Yes." I immediately started running through this hard ice, blowing my emergency whistle. I turn back to look at him and he's laying sideways in the trail. "God, please don't let me fall and get hurt! Help! Someone help!" I was crying so hard now I could hardly breathe. Finally I came to another hiker. "Please help! My husband passed out in the snow!" "It's OK, keep going, get more help, and I'll go to him!" I made it back to the shelter (nobody heard my whistle). The other four guys were there. "Help! My husband is laying in the snow! He's sick, I'm scared!" These men were like firemen. They were in their boots and running down the trail in seconds. They brought Andrew back, carried his pack but he staggered his way back. He was shivering and his eyes were only half open. I took off his socks and boots, put dry socks on him. Put him in his sleeping bag and heated up some Gatorade. The four men threw their stuff together and took the nine mile trail they came in on (not the AT) and headed for the ranger station. They said it would take about six hours, for us to stay put until the ranger came.We were in our sleeping bags all day trying to stay warm. Andrew was feeling better in the later part of the afternoon. It took three hours to get his feet warm. We boiled water and filled a bottle to put in his sleeping bag.Carter and Close Call stayed with us all day and had to stay in their sleeping bags too. They didn't want to leave because I was slightly panicked.Around 7:00 he said "I feel much better but I still want the ranger to come and get us out of here." Right then all the hikers (there was now a new group) heard an engine, which was weird to hear out there. It was three rangers all in a John Deere Gator 6-wheeler. We were so glad! Neither one of us could stand the thought of hiking out of there.They understood that Andrew felt better but they wanted to get us out. 3 hours of a bumpy ride (that we were grateful for) later, we got to the ranger station and checked Andrew's feet. Marked it up to be a case of dehydration and slight hypothermia. They were all so wonderful and took us to a hotel in Cherokee, NC.We turned up the heat, took hot showers, and went to bed.Tomorrow will be...oh, forget it!