| April 23, 24, and 25 2005 |
| PAGE
4 |
|
Newfound Gap to Pecks Shelter - 214.6
miles from Springer Mt. |
| The temperature was in the
teens by the next morning with about 3 to 4 inches of snow. It
was quite a distance straight down hill to get water at Pecks
Corner; so, I choose to fill my water bottles on the back up to the
AT trail for I remembered seeing two small deep holes where I could
fill my bottles easily. Don't you know I couldn't find the
water holes because they had been covered with the previous night's
snow. At Peck Corner the night before was two section hikers,
a couple of thru hikers and the ridge runner "Statten." They
were all headed south to Newfound Gap. I was the only north
bound person. Before I left the shelter, "Statten" gave me his
phone number saying, "Cal me when you get to Davenport Gap or
Standing Bear Farm in two days. You will have no one traveling
before you nor will you have anyone behind you." I agreed to
call him and started north with very little water in my bottles. |
| I was alone in the chilling
wind and snow. Since no other hikers had gone before me, I was
plowing snow - 6 to 8 inches and snow drifts up to my knees. I
was truly alone in this crystal world. I remembered saying,
"God keep me under our arm and guide me to make the right choices."
Again I saw mostly my feet. I did notice a few small animal
tracks along the way. A small brown mouse and a rabbit
scurried off the trail in front of me, ad occasionally black-eyed
Juncos would dare to hop in my path. For water, I ate ice
sickles that were frozen from cut logs or hanging from rocks.
About 1:30pm I made it to Tricorner Knob Shelter. |
|
To my surprise, there were several hikers in the
shelter. They had been 'holed up' 3 days with feet to cold and wet to
hike. Tortuga (turtle) gave me hot tea to drink saying that she was
leaving shortly for Cosby Knob. I filled my water bottle and left about
1:45pm. |
|
Now I wasn't alone. God was guiding me. My
water was freezing. I put my water bottle and snacks inside my shirts and
rain jacket so my body heat would keep my water from freezing and my snacks soft
so I could eat them on my way. I had food, Tortuga had eaten her last food
at noon except for some tea, hot chocolate, and bullion cubes. I shared my
snack foods with her. God really was guiding me! |
|
The snow quite, the bone chilling westward winds had
settled, and the sun sparkled on the snow covered trees. The sky cleared
and puffy clouds appeared. Views of the crystal wilderness dazzled off in
the distance, and the sun shone unto the valleys below and the trail warming our
cold bodies. The snow was melting making for gooey mud under our feet.
The packed snow was actually easier to walk on than the rocks and roots. |
|
Swing'n Jane |
|
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