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[at-l] Re:Cold Hike - A Happy Ending

My coldest hike was in the Smokies on December 26th 1975. It was a 3 day
hike with a friend from college and we were going to hike to Clingman's
Dome. When we started off the ground was warm and clear. After hiking a
couple of hours we hiked into a couple of inches of snow. We were the
first human foot prints in the snow but not the first paw prints. We
couldn't hardly take a step without crossing animal tracks. I never knew
there were so many animals in the wild. You certainly don't see that
many. Well we camped at a trail crossing and having 19 year old brains
we decided to pitch the tent on top of the snow. Our rational was "Hey,
igloos are made from ice and they make good insulation." Our first
mistake! We did manage to find enough dry wood to cook our hotdogs and
have a campfire for about 20 minates. When it was time for bed we
decided to leave our dirty wet hiking boots outside the tent. Our second
mistake! When morning arrived after a frozen sleepless night we decided
the Dome would have to wait. I had  slept on my coat in a ball. With our
frozen boots on we started our descent. After about 30 minates of hiking
my feet were being tortured by what felt like thousands of tiny needles
pricking my feet. As soon as we cleared the snow I stopped, took my
boots and socks off to rub my feet. After 10 minates my feet were no
longer in pain. We later found a campsite near a nice cool stream. That
night we made a big fire and warmed our bodies up. My little toe took
two days to turn back to its normal color. The funny thing was before we
started our hike we were joking about hyperthermia. No more jokes from
us! 
Walter Shroyer

My homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/va/treeartist/index.html
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