On our way to our starting point for the day we noticed the mountain tops were frosted with ice in the distance. We started our hike where we left off the day before at Hightower Gap.
We pulled up and there were several people curled up in blankets on the side of the dirt road we recognized from the shelter from the night before. They looked really cold. We got out and offered them a seat in my dads truck to warm up for a bit. Several did. We took off into the woods.
It was in the 20s. Almost immediately it started snowing. Our first day on the trail it rained. Second day snow. Not even 5 minutes into our hike I noticed I couldn’t feel my fingers (with gloves on). Luckily as I kept moving my body warmed up. Once we crossed over the mountain we got out of the wind and the temperature was a little more tolerable.
The sound of ice cracking on tree limbs was all around us. Ice and snow fell from the trees most of the day. Branches creaked and moaned in the wind. The temperature never got above freezing all day. At one point we traveled down into a gap that seemed like a mirage. The sun was shining. Green hemlocks and mountain laurel surrounded us. There was a nice size rushing stream with crystal clear creek water that we filled our water bottles and drank from.
Back up the mountain into the frosted tree tops we came across a tent that was still erect but open and flapping in the wind. The door was open and ice and snow was inside the tent. There was a food bag still in tree as well. It looked liked some just abandoned thier camp site and left everything behind. Something wasn’t right we could tell. We looked around for a bit but couldn’t find anyone so we hiked on.
We ran into a ridge runner a few miles away. Her name was Captain Planet. We told her what we found. She informed us she was actually on her way to retrieve everything. The owner had to be evacuated off the mountain due to hyperthermia. We met two other ridge runners this day as well: Oddie and Joe. All really nice, friendly, helpful people.
We finished our 12 mile trek at Woody Gap. We experienced our first “trail magic” here. Trail magic is when people setup at random places along the trail and cook or just give away free food and or drinks. Yellow Deli had a large RV / Bus at the trailhead with soup and tea and a variety of snacks and treats. We grabbed a few items, thanked them, and climbed into my dads truck, who was there waiting for us, and headed back to the cabin.
My mom was there waiting on us with home made chili. We ate and warmed up quickly, showered and spent more time visiting with my folks before heading to bed. A cold day but we got in some pretty decent miles so we were happy.
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