TRAIL DAY 5
Thu, Feb 25, 2016 Up with the sun. The wind had stopped but it was very cold. I had breakfast in the tent. I fed Theo in the tent also, as I would do most every morning in the north. I packed up everything in the backpack while inside the tent as well trying to keep warm.
The tent was the issue. The clips of the rainfly were frozen in place and the only thing to defrost them were my fingers which would freeze in the task. So the routine was pinch-defrost clips; fingers to armpits; pinch-defrost clips; fingers to armpits. . . . I put my gloves on before pulling up the cold metal tent stakes. I have a very clear recollection of cleaning the dirt out of the V. I’d use the tip of one stake to clean out another and on occasion, knock the stakes together or against a tree. I went to knock a stake against a tree to my right and a little behind me and missed. The thin, pale, grey metal in white snow was impossible to see. Unless someone found it when the snows melted, it lies still where it landed.
There had been two guys in their 50s or 60s who pitched near me with some complications but they were up and at ‘em with me.
The word from the shelter that morning was that sleep was all but impossible with the wind howling through the open side of the shelter facing us. The night for them was crowded but restless. I was glad for my tent and glad that I had to use it that night.
Once packed it was back to the trail (0.2E).
So many times the morning would start retracing your steps on a side trail to the signs you saw the night before directing you to the shelter or campsite where you stayed. Side-trail miles were often a necessity to get to water or the benefits of a cleared site but they took you off course and added double the distance from the trail to your walking. If I was not in desperate need of water some distance off the trail, I had about a 0.2, maybe 0.3, outer limit for how far I’d go before deciding to add that distance or more to my trek northward instead, committed to making my own spot in the woods which turned out to be my favorite way to camp.
Blood Mountain was ahead with its summit at 4457′. The 1000’ climb was going to warm me up. It was still cold and the way was rocky and slippery. As I made my way up into a grey overcast sky, relying heavily on my trekking poles for balance and assistance pushing me upward, I was soon passed by men in military camouflage with backpacks. They were moving without poles at 3-4 times my rate. I did, however, see some of these men disappearing over the far side of the icy summit a while later. They may have stopped for lunch or something at the Blood Mountain Shelter. I had gone in the stone structure just to take a look. I have since read that the place is riddled with ever-daring mice who make themselves known after dark when the activity of hikers slows down. And so it would be for all shelters.
I have also read that the recruits training on Blood Mountain can lose up to 40 pounds fulfilling the requirements of their exercises there. I would lose a mere 30 pounds on my entire trek. You’ll see at the finish.