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[at-l] re: in need of a story

lynn:

the actual coldest night of my entire thruhike was the first one at
amicalola falls, 18 deg.

the coldest i felt was over a period of 36 hours just north of the smokies.
 i spent the night of mar 29 at painters branch campsite north of davenport
gap.  got to camp in a light sleet.  precipitation increased as i cooked
and ate dinner, turning to a cold rain as i readied my bivy for the night.
bivy leaked during the night and my down bag got quite damp, so i was doing
aerobics all night to keep warm.  miserable.  still raining in the morning,
so i just stuffed everything quickly in my pack and practically ran (for
warmth) to groundhog creek shelter for a hot breakfast.

rest of the day was great - i was warm and dry.  going over max patch was a
blast - thigh high snow drifts, 20 deg temps, 30-50 mph winds.  could
barely see the posts with blazes sticking out of the snow.  i was laughing
all the way.  big mistake came that night at roaring fork shleter - i
forgot to put my boots in my bivy, so they froze solid overnight (5lb (dry)
fabianos!).  crushed my poor feet into them in the morning, took five miles
to thaw out and warm up.

two days later spring arrived, and i had my first full day in shorts.

spring in the appalachias...

mike
ke kaahawe
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