Last night and this morning were cold. It got down to 22 with a windchill of below 10. Despite that I had my best night of sleep yet! Nearly 7 hours uninterrupted and then another 2. Knock wood, my gear has been doing amazing well for me so far. My Topo shoes still look and feel almost new. My UCG and HG quilts did their job to near their temp rating. My Dream Hammock is ultra comfortable. I could go on, but check out my lighter pack for all the gear I’ve brought along – all of it is doing the job!
It was still hard to leave the hammock this morning though. I decided to at least wait until I could see the sun. Even if that didn’t actually make it warmer, it would seem warmer. It was 8 by the time old sol peaked his head over the nearest hill. I decided to just get dressed for the trail, strike camp and roll down to the next gap a couple miles away to stop for breakfast. It was just too cold to sit for anything – the only way to keep warm was to keep moving. I packed my bag rather hurriedly – nothing was in its right place but everything was in there. At one point my hands got so cold (even in gloves) that I stopped to warm them up on my camp stove…that worked…and the smell of burnt knuckle hair told me it was time to stop 🫠.
The climb out of camp was welcome. I didn’t exactly get warm, but I stopped being so cold. The trail showed me how cold it was.
As I made my way down the other side to Tesnatee gap my hopes of any park benches or facilities were dashed. But they were quickly restored when I saw that King Tut and another trail angel were there with trail magic! I knew I skipped breakfast for a reason!
Another through hiker came in while I was there. I learned his (trail) name was Hobble. He was only on day 3 so is making some miles. We hiked together for a while after. It was nice to have someone to talk to and keep pace with. He hiked ahead the next big hill we came to. He hiked the PCT in 2017 so he knows what’s what (although I did show him how to lock lace his shoes to hopefully help with some blisters he was getting).
I got to camp around 5:30. I setup my hammock, quilts and tarp then took some time to repack things into their proper places. Dinner was a peak refuel chicken Alfredo with some extra olive oil and garlic salt.
I ended up having to cut my bear bag line – now it’s only about 30 ft. The bag somehow dropped when I was raising it up and the clip didn’t weigh enough to come back down. Maybe I’ll get a heavier replacement clip?
I’ve got my longest day and most elevation day tomorrow at nearly 15 miles and 4000 ft. Trying to get within 5-6 miles of Dicks Creek gap so I can get to Around the Bend for an easy hike the day after and a nero at the hostel and in Hiawassee.
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