4/5 Strolling

26.9 miles hiked today, 338.7 miles N
Erwin, NC

Today we woke to temps in the 20s. Everyone milled around making breakfast while I packed up and took off. Since the temp was so cold I decided that getting moving quickly was the best way to stay warm. I aimed to hike slow and steady to keep my temp up. As a result of the early start I spent most of the day alone.

With-in a couple hours I had arrived on Big Bald. The wind was strong, blowing my treking poles from their intended path. It was cold and biting chilling me to the core when I stopped. I spent maybe 5 minutes on the top of the bald enjoying the view interrupted only by the ugly scar of a new housing development. When the chill stole the view from my attention I moved on across the bald and enjoyed the spacious view while walking. Well that is until I hit the mud. Last night the ground had frozen hard but the sun defrosted only the top most layer of mud making the trail an oil slick that threatened to throw me from my feet numerous times.

The trees were gorgeous with spikes of snow clumped on the windward side.

When I reached Bald Mnt. Shelter I intended to lunch but the cold set in and I decided to keep moving after I filled my water bladder up. I had to be careful to always drain the hose as water left in it was freezing up.

I headed into Spivy Gap and as I climbed up the other side the temp started to rise causing me to take many breaks to remove layers until I was down to shorts and a t-shirt. Then the temp went back down. I made it to the No Business Shelter with a couple hours of sun to spare. I was just starting to settle in when Ninja, Big Gulp, McGyver slackpacked in. They needed to make it to the next gap before dark. I decided to go with them we all proceeded to cover the last 6.6 miles before dark. It was a hard and fast hike keeping us warm and we made it to the road with just a few minutes before the sun set. We got a shuttle to Miss Janet's Place which is were I am spending tonight. It is a party here, most of my trail buddies are here and someone seems to have bought pizza and beer for everyone. Miss Janet is a blast too being the life of the party.