Date: 2008-02-27
From: Muskrat Shelter NC

To: Carter Gap Shelter NC 
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day 10 ¢ Wednesday, February 27 ¢ Carter Gap Shelter NC ¢ Miles Today: 12.5 Total Miles: 91.7Woke up to a chilly 15 degrees with a dusting of snow on our sleeping bags and on top of and in our boots, which were placed at the foot of our shelter bed. Throughout the night when the gentle breeze picked up, we could feel the snow landing on our faces even though our heads were at the inner part of the shelter structure. We had sheltered because there was supposed to be 50 - 70 mph wind gusts and we did not want to risk a tree or tree limb falling on our tent (or us!). But the wind had really settled down by dinnertime. Sleeping in shelters is always quite a unique experience - last night we had snoring in stereo but since we all basically climbed into our sleeping bags around 5:30 and did not get up until 7:00, I guess if we were interrupted a few times with snoring or someone's nature call, we still got plenty of rest. Piper was the first one to move about 7:00. We followed shortly thereafter as we had 12.5 miles to go and 2-4" of snow on the ground. We figured it would be slow going and we didn't want to arrive too late at our next camp. We hit the trail by 8:00 skipping breakfast as we figured we'd warm up a bit first and have it later. The first half of today¢s hike was rather tricky. There were lots of boulders and rocks on the trail that we had to go up and over and around and duck under. With the snow on the ground, it was very difficult to see the depth and gauge our step properly. We both had many slips and slides. Grasshopper, however, is winning the actual fall tally. The score is 1-0. A fall is defined as a knee or butt touching the ground. A slip is defined as a hand touching the ground without a knee or butt touching. It continued to snow during the morning with a gentle breeze so we were pretty much nose down hiking to avoid a face full of snow. By the afternoon, some sunshine arrived and the snow and breeze stopped, allowing us to look up and take in some beautiful winter wonderland views. Although it was sunny off and on all day, there were at one point in time some very ominous looking storm clouds on the horizon. We, however, escaped them so we are lucky today once again.We stopped at Standing Indian Shelter at lunchtime to filter water, but our water filter had frozen. That¢s the first time for us! At the shelter was Dartman, who had his own version of cold weather dilemma - his food bag rope hanging in the tree was frozen to the limb and he could not lower his food bag! He has to wait for a few sunrays to hit it and thaw it enough to get it loose. Bummer. Something we¢ll have to keep in mind! We left him there, wishing him good luck and we headed down the trail with our water filter stuffed between our shirts to thaw. We hiked another couple miles and found a little puddle on the trail and were able to filter from there. Ah, life is good again.Doesn't seem like it got above freezing as the water in our bottles froze throughout the day. The last half of the hike today was very nice smooth trail, not a lot of incline and we made great time. It was much more fun without the snow blowing in our face and without us slipping and sliding. We arrived at camp - Carter Gap Shelter - around 3:00 - and set up our tent. No need to shelter again tonight. We pitched the tent on a few inches of snow and then tried to build a windbreak of leaves along the tent fly to block some of the breeze. After getting the tent setup, Brakeman went to filter water only to determine that our water filter was frozen again! As a result, we had pretty much a dry dinner. We ate our oatmeal that we never got around to eating in the morning and we had just a wee little bit of water that we used for hummus burritos. No cooked dinner tonight for us.   It¢s 6:00 and just 22 degrees outside. Piper arrived about an hour ago and is down at the shelter preparing his dinner. Dartman arrived just a few minutes ago. He hollered over at our tent as he walked by to say hello and to let us know that he made it to camp after successfully freeing his food bag from the iced tree. Dartman got his name because during his 2001 thru-hike, he actually carried professional quality darts to use at the bars on his town stops. He's a very unique character. He has a beard that's probably about a foot long. Not sure how long his hair is. We've all worn our knit hats for 4 days straight so nobody knows what each other looks like. He's missing one front tooth and he looks mighty rough but he's actually quite well spoken and a very nice gentlemen.   We unfortunately had a casualty on the trail today. Dave and Coffee Cat from Britain have decided that the AT is not in their cards for this year. They are heading off the trail and will spend the rest of their visa time sightseeing America via car and motels. I don't think Coffee Cat was prepared for the terrain. I think she found it very difficult. It doesn't seem like either of them was prepared for cold weather, gear wise, as their sleeping bags were pretty much on the weak side and they did not have enough warm clothes. Since last night was 15 degrees and tonight is to be another cold one, I don't think it would have been too comfortable for them. I think everyone knew their sleeping bags were not heavy enough. While at Muskrat Creek Shelter last night, when we had snow and 15-degree temps, Piper had made sure that they got the wall of the shelter where they would be most protected from the wind.Tomorrow we hit another major milestone. We will have completed 100 miles of the trail, which is a record for us! I think that's it on this end. Goodnight from chilly and snowy North Carolina.