Date: 2018-11-15
From: USFS 71

To: Route 9 Woodford Hollow 
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: snow

I watched the sun come up from the SUV this morning. It was a beautiful bouquet of bright pinks and oranges. I couldn¢t wait to get going! It was 10 degrees when I jumped on trail. I was early enough to catch the morning birds in full swing! It made me happy to hear them sing even when it¢s this cold outside!There was some bouldering going down pretty early on. I find it so much easier on boulders with this iced over snow. Especially going down. I just motor right on down like they¢re not even there. It reminds me of a winter in Illinois. I think it was 1977. Anyway the drifts were as high as fence posts.  They were iced over enough that I could walk right across the top of our fences.  There were lots of deer tracks this morning. It got me to thinking that I haven¢t heard gun shots today. That¢s two days in a row now.  The trail was over all going up, but with steady easy UP¢s & DOWN¢s along the way. Then I started the big UP to Glastenbury Mountain at 3750ft elevation.  I hiked past a partially frozen pond and watched a busy grey squirrel scamper across the forest floor. Other than my morning birds he would be the only wildlife I see today.Hiking DOWN in the snow seems to be easier, but hiking UP in the snow can be exhausting. My legs felt so heavy. That¢s about the time my spikes got caught on a stick and BOOM...down goes McGinney! It was the strangest fall. I was thrusted forward like I had been pushed from behind. I landed in the soft snow on my hands and knees. No harm.  Soon I reached the top of Glastenbury. Another cool fire tower was up there. This one wasn¢t nearly as iced over as the last fire tower. I really wanted to climb it, but my legs were sooo tired. I did not.  A short distance down past the summit was Goddard Shelter. It was already 1pm so I stopped for lunch. I have no idea what the temp was, but at that elevation it felt bitter cold. Even behind a wall of the shelter my body temp dropped quickly. I was shaking as I took my last bite.  I knew I had to get my body temp back up, so I literally ran the whole 1.1 miles down that mountain. My fingers and toes were still a little numb so I trotted another mile for good measure. Feeling nice and toasty, I texted Papa Big Swig that I was now ahead of schedule. This was great as today is another long hiking day.  Then everything went backwards!  I had come to a spot where it wasn¢t clearly defined where the trail went. After going off trail a bit and catching a little view between the trees I had to turn back around. There it was...the trail! The trail formed a ¢V¢ right there and I was at the narrow point. I hopped back on still feeling good. About 1.7 miles later I realized that I hiked myself right back to where I had already been! Unbelievable! This is the biggest ROOKIE mistake ever!  I did this one time before way back in...GEORGIA! You know, when I really was a rookie. Texas and Daddy Shakira saved me that day.  Needless to say the extra 3.4 miles I just added on put me way behind for what I thought would be an early day. I was so mad at myself. I rarely get mad, but when I do, it¢s ugly!  I had been looking forward to getting to a ¢lookout¢ all day long. It was a ridge with a view on both sides. By the time I finally got there the sun was setting. I was still able to see the mountains on both sides, but I hurried through. It temp was dropping fast with sunset, and the wind was whipping across the ridge.  Here I am night hiking again. The truth is, I usually love night hiking. I especially love it during the winter. For a good long while I really did enjoy myself out there. Then I got a stick caught up in between my feet. I was on a boardwalk. Yep, down goes McGinney...AGAIN!  That¢s it!  I was ready to be done for the day.  A snow storm was predicted for tonight. I had about 2 miles to go when my GPS began acting up. I knew the snow clouds must be overhead. That¢s the only problem I ever have with Guthook¢s.  I just had to figure it out on my own during questionable moments of direction. With about 30 minutes left to go the snow started falling.I love snow but the combination of my headlamp and snow is a problem. Soon I was blinded by the snow. Even still, I could now see Papa Big Swig¢s headlights is the parking lot below. Thank GOD!   Making my way down that last half mile proved itself a challenge. There was some bouldering.  The snow had melted making it slightly dangerous to say the least. I wished I could see! I had been hearing a water crossing getting closer and closer.  I prayed the whole way down that it was not a big one. Soon enough I was there. This thing was way too large to cross. After one more fall, flat on my fanny, I made it to an ¢island¢ located in the middle of that water. By the grace of God I managed to make my way down this land mass to a bridge. Then out to a highway. I saw signs to the parking lot where Papa Big Swig was waiting.I was a hurting miserable mess by the time I reached the SUV. Papa Big Swig asked me why I didn¢t come from some other direction...I fell to tears. This day got the best of me.  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?