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Last night was the first night that my water actually froze in my water bottle, so I know it was cold! My quilt and folding foam pad are my new favorite pieces of gear because together they have kept me warm and cozy through some pretty cold nights.
None of us at the shelter wanted to move quickly since the cold was so biting as we packed up and made breakfast. Eventually, Frickles and I set out after the usual morning camp chores, and I took my blueberry oatmeal to go so we could get moving and warm up on the trail.
Unfortunately, after the shelter was a couple of miles of real snow on the trail. Not just ice or slush like yesterday, the trail was over an inch of snow, which meant my feet got covered after only a few steps, and I had to stop frequently to “unclog” my toes. I avoided frostbite by moving as fast as I could, sometimes literally running down the snowy trail! I would stop at spots on the trail with fully melted puddles of water to rinse off the ice and give my toes hand-hugs if I felt them getting numb.
I never said it was smart to wear sandals in snow, but here we are. The socks were still wet/frozen so barefoot was it. After running down the trail about another mile, I was so happy to find the trail getting warmer as the sun came out, and after only a couple of miles total the snow disappeared. My toes were safe and sound, and definitely not frozen!
As the sunshine came out and the snow disappeared, we finally got great views on the trail too.
Frickles and I are both very excited to leave the Smokies. We haven’t found them to be endearing at all, and we are tired of the clumping up of hikers at shelters making the trail less quiet and more frought with thoughts of “gotta get to the next shelter quick before it fills up!”.
Despite our excitement to leave, after our big day yesterday we are taking it a little slower today. All the downhills and sliding on ice are wearing out our feet, so we decided to enjoy the sun by a creek for a long lunch, and only hike a few more miles to our next place to sleep tonight.
Our last stop for the day was a fire watch tower on the way to the shelter. We decided to go up and have our dinner there at a leisurely pace. Hiking at a leisurely pace too, because our feet are killing us from the ice and snow and slipping and sliding, and eating leisurely because the views are incredible and there’s no one else around. Heaven!
I sincerely love meeting other hikers on the trail, and spending time around the shelters means I’ve learned the names of a pretty good group of people that I’m sure I’ll keep seeing. Overall the experience has been valuable to get to know my fellow hikers in this bubble, and I’m sure seeing them again further down the trail will be rewarding. For now though, it’s nice to have a quiet evening after a day with just me and Frickles chilling on the trail.
One more night in the Smokey Mountains, then we’re out of here! I’m personally hoping to increase my mileage to be closer to 15 miles per day once we’ve exited the higher elevations with unpredictable weather events.
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