Leaving Bly Gap in the morning was very cold. Taking down and packing up in the cold is difficult. It was a climb from the get go (3,833 ft. up to 4,666 down to 4300 and up to 4620 then down to 4341 and up to Standing Indian Mountain at 5,498 and then finally down to Beech Gap at 4,460 ft. My first 12 mile day. Warming up wasn't a problem. It's tough though to start out so early with cold muscles on a steep climb. My body was protesting and my lungs were gasping. I was wearing two pairs of gloves and my fingers were still COLD. Eventually Dreamer, Socks and Charlie passed me. I slipped in black gooey mud coming around a corner and down. I slipped so quietly they didn't even notice but that was the last I saw of them for quite some time. My right glove was covered in the black goop of mud and I thought my hiking skirt surely looked like I had pooped my pants ! What to do? Get up and move on down the trail. I put my mud covered glove in a baggy and put on another glove. In the slip, I lost my bandana which I used to blow my runny nose (in the cold weather). You know it's cold outside when your bandana freezes between nose blowings ... I took a break on a downed tree after awhile and a young man hiked up. We talked for a few minutes and he pulled out my bandana and asked if it was mine. I thanked him for picking it up. I asked if he would take a look at the back of my skirt (stating I knew it was a strange request) because I had fallen in the mud and I wondered what it looked like. He said the skirt was OK (perhaps my guardian angel kept me out of the mud) but that the corner of Buddy (my pack) had a little mud on it. At least I could continue to hike in some semblance of peace knowing that those who came up behind me wouldn't think I had experienced an accident of the poopy kind .... and didn't get a cat hole dug fast enough !
Didn't take many pictures this day -- too busy just walking 12 miles.
This was something new. Ice frozen on the trail which looked like ribbons ...
Socks, Dreamer and Charlie headed down; it's so easy for Charlie. Watching the ease with which he moves, I almost wished I was a dog !
Still going down ...
It was about 6 PM when we arrived at Beech Gap. The wind was blowing so hard and the temperature was really dropping fast. All I wanted to do was get my tent up, crawl in and get warm. Water was quite a walk and after getting my tent up, I went for water. Cooked dinner and started a little mini forest fire when leaves blew into the cat can alcohol stove. I had cleared away the leaves to put my stove on bare ground but to no avail. Not sure if anyone saw me stomping out the small leaf fire. I thought of the I Love Lucy show when she was stomping on all the grapes in the vat. I think Hermes and Detour tents were on either side of me and Woodman and Dreamer, Socks and Charlie were near by. The wind howled that night. I prayed that God would wrap his loving arms around me because I was afraid my sleeping quilts and mattress might not be warm enough. I slept in my base layer shirt, synthetic vest and down jacket. I had my long underwear bottoms on and my rain pants on top of them and my down booties kept my feet warm. I wore two hats on my head and covered my face with my sleeping quilt liner. I slept, thank God.
In the morning, my Camelbak (water bladder) had slush in it. I had drained my water tube but my bite valve had a little ice cube in it. I crushed it with my teeth and held it in my mouth for a few minutes and I had water to drink. One of the guys in the next tent I think had their water container burst and water flooded out under their mattress and froze onto the bottom of the mattress as a sheet of ice ! It was a cold night and a cold morning to pack up. I was glad to be moving but it took awhile for my hands and feet to warm up as we hiked. I don't know the temperature that night but it was FRIGID -- maybe in the low teens !
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