Date: 2016-03-03
From: Spencer Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

I woke up to one of the coldest windiest mornings of the hike. The forecast had called for rain/snow all day and I debated just taking a 0 day at the shelter. Had I had signal at the shelter I probably would have taken the 0 day but ended up packing up and heading out when I determined the cold would preclude it from raining and getting me soaked. Freezing rain was just fine with me. About an hour or so into the hike the wind picked up. Going over some of the ridges were very challenging as the wind was really blowing hard. A number of strong gusts actually blew me sideways a few times. It really wasn't strong enough to blow me off the mountain but the thought did cross my mind more than once. Leaning into the wind seemed to be enough to counter act the gusts aso I kept hiking on. I lost count of how many times I wondered if the 0 in the shelter might have been the wiser decision??? I was reasonably warm, reasonably dry and aside from being alone in a storm in the middle of no where... I was fine. The thought: "it's like being on Naked and Afraid" only without being naked and without being afraid!!! Simply reminding myself that I was very far from help if anything were to happen was enough to keep me going slower and extremely more cautious... I made it to Derrick Know Shelter around 12:30 having started out around 7:30 so rough calculations of 6.1 miles in about 5 hours or so... turtle speed entered my mind but turtle speed and no injuries was just fine for the conditions. Again I was at a cross roads mentally... be content with my 6.1 miles and chill out athe Derrick Know shelter for the rest of the day or go on the 5.7 miles to Silers Bald Shelter??? Based on the day so far... I felt confident I could make it the 5.7 miles before sun down without any major concerns. It was ONLY 5.7 more miles and would set up the next day for a reasonable 12.1 mile push on to Newfound Gap and hitch in to Gatlinburg to resupply and rest up. I ultimately decided to push on and the actual time to process the decision was probably about 30 seconds. Again... the whole way to the next shelter I would continue to second guess that decision. After about an hour the wind picked up a little more and the freezing rain turned to a heavier wet snow. I seriously began to think..."I AM SCREWED!!!!" among other choice words/thoughts. A couple of times I found myself having hiked for what seemed like an eternity without having seen a WHITE BLAZE!!! Delayed Panic arose with high anxiety as I continued on searching every tree for an elusive WHITE BLAZE... Being lost on some unknown trail in the storm was NOT a comforting thought. After what seemed like FOREVER a white blaze magically appeared and I thought... maybe I should donate a gallon of white paint so they could make a few more blazes along the trail!!! The wet snow continued to accumulate making the going even slower than previously. "In for a penny, in for a pound" kept circulating among other thoughts. There was no turning back... the next shelter should be near... And here is a "Pearl of Trail Wisdom" - The trail NEVER gets tired of messing with you!!! It can read your mind. If you think you're getting close to the shelter it will make it seem like it takes forever to get there. Then when you think you're miles from your destination... poof... there it is! And that was how the day ended... the Shelter just appeared out of nowhere and I was done hiking for the day. I had made it to Silers Bald Shelter in one piece. I was reasonably warm, dry except for my feet and in pretty good spirits all things considered. I quickly set up my tent and got ready for the night... I was shocked when I checked the time and saw it was only 5pm when I crawled into my sleeping bag for the night!!!