Frozen in the Mountains

Right now I'm freezing my ass off. It was in the low 20's last night and despite my warmer sleeping bag liner I shivered all night long. There was a heavy wind until about halfway through the night. A coyote came through camp howling up a storm too. That was pretty neat. Getting out of my quilt and my tent is not appealing.

Most of the mud was frozen in strange positions making it awkward to walk on. There's some interestingly shaped ice everywhere too.

I ran into some trail magic a few miles into the day. They had a fantastic spread and not just food. I got some fruit and a PB&J, they even gave me one to go! I got some other cookies, muffins and snacks. They even charged my phone for me. It really cheered up my cold night.

I decided to take time out of my day to build a snowman. It was fun to stop and play in the snow. As the day went on there was less and less snow then none at all.

 

Most of the people I know on the trail are aiming for the A. Rufus Morgan Shelter tonight. I ended up pushing myself pretty hard to make it there right at sunset. It was a 15.5 mile push. When I got there it was full. The shelter was crowded and all the good tent spots were taken already. I decided to hike on to find flat ground or possibly to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoors Center). I ended up hiking the extra mile to the NOC. My middle few toes were hurting a lot towards the end. They felt like they were being overextended and it hurt the bone and joint. I need to take day off to rest my sore feet.

The office was closed so I couldn't rent a hostel bed or cabin or anything. I headed towards the cabins and couldn't find any hikers. I ended up finding the hostel area. There were multiple bunk buildings and they were gendered. I ran into a couple girls staying in one and they snuck me in like a stowaway. The building had 18 beds but there were 3 girls staying here and they had no problem with me spending the night. It was great getting to take a shower and sleep on a plastic mattress. This hostel doesn't provide sheets, it sounds like most along the AT don't which is quite strange to me. I thought it would be pretty gross but the whole facility seemed quite clean! It was a good but rough day.

Tonight at the NOC is mile 137 with 2052.8 left to go!