Day 25, Thursday, March 8. Double Spring Gap Shelter—7.4 miles

Last night was the coldest we had experienced to date. It was already below 20 when we got in our sleeping bag around 6ish (and that was after a day where the high never broke 30 inside the shelter where we kept a fire going all day). When Stickers got in, he started helping me collect wood while Bunny Tracks, Dancing Dog, and Trail Runner broke and cut the wood to usable size. Mac had insisted that Trail Runner bring a folding saw (which I wouldn’t have carried on a long hike) but it did make life easier and keep the operator warmer.

Everyone in the shelter (Stickers, Lady Bug, Patches, Finnegan, Ringo, Reboot, and the four of us, a young local couple Sobo’s, and two more outside) were up and moving by 7:20. Surprisingly, the two camping were the first to hit the trail. We were in a bit of a cold haze and moving slow. Even so, we made a huge improvement getting ready, but we were still the last ones out at 9:30. I can’t complain about that because that is an entire hour of improvement over our previous start the day before yesterday which had us arriving at the shelter well after dark. At this rate of improvement, we won’t even be sleeping in shelters by the time we make it up to Hot Springs.

It was an overcast and cold day, but at least it wasn’t snowing. With all the people that jumped ahead of us yesterday and the people who left before us today, the trail was pretty packed down and easy to follow (which is great because the trail through the Smokies doesn’t have a lot of blazes on it). When Timeout had broken the trail to get to us yesterday, he said he had to pretty much walk with the “Guthook” app open to even find the trail. We are not ready nor do we have any desire to hike that way. I kept watching my thermometer all day—it never got above 20 the entire time we were on the trail.

Durwood had told us he hikes with bread bags on his feet in this weather. I had extra bags I gave to Bunny Tracks, Stickers, and Lady Bug. Trail Runner had bags for herself and Dancing Dog. I was actually afraid to try out the bags because my feet already sweat so much that I was afraid I’d be swimming in my socks all day. Stickers was the only one using trail runners in this group so he definitely needed the extra layer to stay warm. When we did get to the shelter, he told us that the bags were a big improvement for him.

We all kept together better today. Occasionally, Trail Runner and I got out front but then we’d wait for the other two to catch up. It was hard to wait long because if you stopped moving, it didn’t take long to get cold. Trail Runner’s hands were so cold that she didn’t grip her poles but kept her hands folded in her mittens to try to get them to warm up. Dancing Dog had some hand warmers.  She shard a pair with Bunny and it seemed to help them both.  I was OK as long as I kept on the go, but if I stopped, I almost immediately lost feeling in my feet and hands.

Silers Bald Shelter was just under 6 miles down the trail and was our target to take a lunch break out of the wind. Bunny and I are running a little low on lunch food, so it doesn’t take us long to eat. We split a protein bar and had a “pick up” each and were ready to go. The other two had a tortilla roll: peanut butter for Trail Runner and frozen tuna for Dancing Dog. One thing Bunny and I do to save time, is get our meals all lined out for the next day when we cook supper. That way, I have my lunch made up and the place it in the top of my pack brains—I just grab it, eat, and go. Dancing Dog hasn’t learned this trick yet and keeps all of her food together inside of her bear bag (for ease at night). It’s something she will eventually start to do naturally the longer she hikes. I’m learning my lesson in giving her suggestions—she is just like Bunny’s daughter, Sarah. She doesn’t like to be told how to do things and prefers to figure things out for herself. It’s the mark of a strong woman but can be frustrating to watch the learning process.

It didn’t take me long to loose all the feeling in my feet and hands at lunch. While Dancing Dog was packing back up, I was freezing. I said I was moving on and they could catch up. When I get that cold, I push on hard and fast to try to get my core temperature to rise which will eventually spill over to my feet and hands. It was only 1.7 miles to the next shelter. I covered the ground in about 45 minutes without realizing it and I never got warm. I tried to leave a few “signs” along the trail just like Stickers does when he gets ahead. I just drew some initials in the snow where he builds snowmen (sometimes with M&M eyes which leads to their being “blinded” by the first hiker to pass).

It wasn’t like I was the only one moving fast after lunch. The three ladies were only about 10-15 minutes behind me. We were the last of the known people to arrive with Stickers, Lady Bug, Finnegan, and Patches already there. Stickers was out collecting firewood so I dropped my pack and started to help. Lady Bug had a fire going and was thawing and drying everyone’s stuff for them. Patches was out surveying the area to find water and the biggest joy to all—an actual latrine at this shelter. When the ladies arrived, they started breaking up firewood and sawing some bigger stuff. If was not even 3 and we were a well oiled machine.

Eventually, 3 more young thru-hikers came in but they just kept to themselves. They all had hiked over 20 miles today and planned on doing the same tomorrow so we will probably never see them again. It was bitterly cold to me. Bunny took care of the inside stuff while I got water and cooked supper. I didn’t bother filtering water because it was so cold. I was afraid the filter would freeze. We haven’t been drinking enough yesterday and today so I know we are getting a little dehydrated. We drank less than a liter between us today.

Stickers had spent a couple hours collecting wood and never even sat by the fire. He got in his bag to warm up before he made his and Lady Bug’s supper. Bunny and I were in bed with our hot water bottle while it was still light out. It’s going to be another cold night, tonight, but the last forecast we saw for tomorrow has temperatures in the 50’s. The 8 of us that were together last night and tonight all agree that we want to get down to Gatlinburg tomorrow if the road gets opened up at Newfound Gap, a little over 10 miles ahead.