Date: 2010-02-11
From: Indian Grave Gap

To: Deep gap shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Every mile is two in winter.                   - George Herbert The day dawned clear, and Trail Angel Dave picked Fahmah and me up and drove us up to Indian Grave Gap to save us the repeat hike up and over Rocky Mountain. Dave knows the trail around here very well and planned to see us safely over Tray Mountain. We started hiking just before 8.The wind was chill and strong, but the sun was lovely on the snow. It looked as if someone had vaporized a rainbow and then spread it all over the snow. Everywhere I looked, tiny crystals twinkled the colors of the rainbow. If I stared too hard or long, they seemed to disappear, but if I just let my gaze roam over the snow I was dazzled.Sherpa Dave dragged limbs and broke branches trying to clear parts of the trail. The going got tougher though as we got closer to the top. We reached the spot where I had been trying figure out which rhododendron barricade the trail went under when the ice bombing had started when I was here on Monday.The trail had indeed switchbacked at that point. Backtracking and then cutting up the slope allowed us to regain the trail. From there it was stiff going. There were many blowdowns and low-hanging rhododendron and mountain laurel. We had to crawl over and under, brush past, and push our way through. In a way, it reminded me of Mahoosic Notch.Many branches were still encased in ice, but we saw some of the ice "bombs" that had come down. Check out a couple of the photos with Dave. He estimated the one in the picture to be 2 pounds. Later we found one that, after some experimental biceps curls, he estimated at 5 to 6 pounds. Dave said he'd never seen it like that before.After we passed Tray Mountain Shelter and Dave felt that we would be able to find our way on the trail, he retraced his steps back to Indian Grave Gap. Fahmah and I thanked him once again and continued on, headed for Deep Gap Shelter.While there weren't as many major blowdowns on the trail, plenty of twigs and branches littered the ground all over. I could see fresh wounds on many trees where branches had broken off. Sometimes it was the entire top of the trees that had snapped. The reddish or golden colors of the gashes were bright against the dark trunks.The footing continued to be bad, but not as treacherous. In many places the snow and ice had melted and then refrozen to make a very hard, smooth surface. On one stretch the trail was close to the edge of a steep slope. I realized that if I slipped on the ice and started to slide down the slope I could slide a long way down before I stopped since the crust was very hard. I took a long time and very small, cautious steps in that area. My arms and hands got a serious workout as I drove the tips of the hiking poles as far in to the ice as I could with every step, hoping to gain some traction.The long climb up Kelly Knob seemed to take forever, always at the same incline. I hurried as best I could, hoping to make the shelter before dark.I was passed by Uncle Frank, a young hiker, moving fast. He had a pair of nail clippers that he thought was mine. He was delighted to find me and was anticipating my delight at being reunited with the clippers. I was sorry to disappoint him, but I had used mine the night before, and he had found these on Blood Mountain.I reached Deep Gap and took the .3 mile side trail down to the shelter. It wasn't dark yet, but it was before I could get dinner ready. After dark, Matt (Just Matt?) arrived and settled in. Already in residence was Teardrop, a Vietnam vet who bicycled to Franklin, NC from Oklahoma, reversing the Trail of Tears, and was now hiking gradually to Springer.I was grateful to finally tuck myself into my sleeping bag.Ten hours of hiking with only one real break - and that one wasonly 10 or 15 minutes. We had done 9.9 miles. Oh, but wait. It's definitely winter. According to the opening quote, that works out to be 19.8 miles! That sounds much better.