Five Years Ago

It's been five years since Bobby and I were backpacking in some of the worst of conditions.

Day 12 - 2/18 - Windy and cold hike to Carter gap shelter. Saw only Longhorn all day. Thick ice on trees. 2" in places. Very cold windy night. Wind chills had to be well below zero.

Day 13 - 2/19 - More misery. Fuel barely working. Almost impossible to keep water bottles thawed. More dangerous hiking in ice and snow. We wanted to take bypass around Albert mountain but were not sure and couldn't afford to get lost. So, up and over we went. Throwing poles up past rocks and grabbing roots, trees, and more rocks to get up. Throw in ice and snow and we were lucky to avoid slips and falls. View was great but we were cold and hustled down. Made Long Branch shelter. One of the newer on trail. We saw no other hikers Was nice winds died down but temps plunged. Probably below zero.

Day 14 - 2/20 - Packed up early and left with frozen water bottles. Skipped breakfast. A few miles in snow got deeper. Drifted over a foot in many places. Slipped and slid our way to Wallace gap only to find a steep climb out of there. Very steep and snowy. When we finally made Winding Stair gap we were able to get a ride almost immediately. Guy is from Canada and said he couldn't believe he was seeing two guys come out of the woods on a day like this. Said it got below zero at his place last night so we had to be colder up at 4,500 feet! Said area had lost power in storms. He was heading to town for supplies to fix broken pipes. Said he'll have a heck of a story to tell his girlfriend. Took us right to microtel. Great hiker rates and well located. Put pack, tent, and boots in tub to thaw while we went next door to shoney's for first meal of day. Excellent!