Miles Hiked 79.9
Elevation 1,670 feet
Miles Hiked Today 11.0
Wow! Was it cold last night? Yes it was. I didn’t get out of my sleeping bag until almost 8:00 a.m. . I waited until the sun came up. My water had frozen confirming the below freezing temperatures. In fact two bottles of water had frozen. If it was supposed to be in a low 20s, it certainly was.
I packed up as quickly as I could and then took down the tarp that I put up last night. The tarp did its job well. The wind blew quite strongly all night. However, the tarp kept all that wind out and did not pull from its anchored spots. I expected it would have done that.
I started hiking around 9:00 a.m. . I shivered ever since I got out of my sleeping bag. Getting on the trail and hiking warmed me up. I still wore everything that I went to bed with the night before. It was just too cold to remove any of the additional clothing I wore.
Today, the trail tended to go up most of the day. It would go down slightly for a short period of time, but then it would go right back up. Trail blazes we’re few and far between in some sections. The trail was also overgrown in parts. There are vines at the side of the trail that grow into the trail. The vines have thorns on them and when you walk by they catch your clothing and even your feet. I fell several times. It was mostly the vines but also a tree stump and rocks. The problem is there are so many leaves on the trail that you can’t see what’s under them. That leave strewn trail proved to be particularly hazardous for me today.
Due to the trail condition, I moved a lot slower than even in past days. I reached the Turner Gap Shelter just before dark.
It’s going to be another cold night, probably in the 20s. I guess that’s round two of freeze your butt off. No tarp, though. This shelter does have one, but the wind is very light or non-existent. So I’m not going to put the tarp up.
