April 7, 2009
Apparently as I came down south to hike, the weather from New England followed me. Today we are expecting 3-6 inches of snow above 3000 feet.
Here's part of an e-mail I received from Sue Norwood,
"Think of the positives. At least you're done with the Smokies (higher elev.). You are better acclimated to cold temps than hot ones. You are much better trained than most of the thru-hikers you're meeting. And you don't have to sleep in a tent at night!!!"
She was right. A positive outlook was the key here. Hiking in the snow didn't bother me in the least. I've done plenty of that in much worse conditions. My fear was Lynn having to drive in the snow. She's a good driver, but today's trailhead was at 4200'. I was afraid the driving would be dangerous on the twisty, windy, snowy road up to Wayah Gap. Turns out the road was fine, but there was already some snow on the trail when I started.
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There were no footprints in the snow, so I most likely would be the first person on the summit today. I probably wouldn't see to many thru hikers since I was heading north today.
Up I headed to Wayah Bald. As I neared the summit, I saw what appeared to be a small shelter. As I got closer and came around the other side I could see that my "shelter" was actually bathrooms. It wasn't a surprise to me since I knew there was a road to the top of this mountain.
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A minute later I was on the 5348' summit. I knew I wouldn't be able to see anything, but climbed the tower anyway. The picture looks calm, but it was quite windy. I went inside the lower level to get out of the wind and have a snack.
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I began my descent down the other side and was met by this dog.
That meant there should be hikers around. I met two hikers heading south. I assumed they couldn't be thru hikers since they were heading south and it is way to early in the year for sobos.
"Are you section hikers?" I asked.
"No, thru hikers," one of them said.
"Aren't you going the wrong way?" I asked.
"We aren't equipped for this type of weather. We are getting off the trail for a day or two."
I later learned that the snow extended all the way down to Springer Mountain. Many of the thru hikers were taking a zero today.
I went by the side trail to the shelter where they had stayed. I don't know the name of the shelter. It must new, because it wasn't listed on my map.
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Partial view as I headed down to Licklog Gap
As I headed through Licklog Gap, I saw a tent. There was no sign that the hiker inside had ventured outside yet. He/she would have quite a surprise when he/she woke up. As I headed through Burningtown Gap I saw fresh tire tracks on road 1397. My guess is someone called out on a cell phone to be "rescued" from the storm. I had been following footprints since the last shelter. I finally found out who they belonged to as I caught up to a thru hiker named Journey.
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She's tough and was sticking it out despite the weather. I passed her but she caught up to me when I stopped for a break at Cold Spring Shelter
"Are you thru hiking?" I asked Journey.
"That's the idea."
"You didn't know you signed up for this did you?"
"Not at all."
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Cold Spring Gap was definitely appropriately named on this cold spring day.
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By now the snow was really accumulating. We definitely had the six inches that were predicted. It was windy too so small drifts were developing. It was almost up to my knees in some places. I know that can't compare to the White Mountains back home, but this was completely unexpected.
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When I told Sue Norwood what time of the year I was coming, she said the snow should be gone. Note that she said "the snow should be gone" and not "the snow would be gone". She was right. It was gone, but apparently it followed me here from Maine. When I told people I was from Maine, most of them laughed and blamed the storm on me.
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I reached the side trail for Rocky Bald. I debated about taking it, but I didn't know how far it was. There were no footprints, so no one else saw the need to go up there today. I thought I saw what might be the top so I headed up. Nope. With the top not in sight and no idea how far it was, I decided to abandon this little side adventure.
I had one brief moment of blue sky today as I passed through Tellico Gap
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I had one more big climb of the day as I headed up to Wesser Bald. The A.T. didn't go quite to the top but I could see the tower 100 feet away. This was worth a detour. I can't seem to walk by towers without climbing them. Again I knew I couldn't see anything, but climbed it anyway.
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Next I made my way down to Wesser Bald Shelter where I met Patrick on his was to Connecticut and Radar a 2007 thru hiker.
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The next couple of miles were relatively flat. I had one more small hike up and then began my long descent down. At first it was steep and with the snow I had to take my time. I got a partial view from "The Jump-Off". Yesterday I was on the other side of the river where I passed "The Jump-Up".
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There was much less snow as I dropped to 3000'.
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By the time I dropped to 2500 feet it was like another day.
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I met a section hiker named Liz. She recommended that tomorrow I take the side trail to Siler Bald when I hike the section south of here. I hiked with her for about a mile.
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I saw the Rufus Morgan Shelter from the trail but didn't stop. As I neared the end of today's section, Lynn had hiked in to meet me.
In the photo above note the white on Lynn's pants. It was still snowing pretty good, just not accumulating.
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Lynn took my picture at the trailhead where several hiking sticks had been left.
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Miles to go: 113
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