Day 22

Origin: Icewater Spring Shelter
Destination: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Today's miles: 12.6
Total miles: 223.4

We expected this morning to be cold and it was. We didn't have a working thermometer but it was in the low 20s at 7am. All of the clothes we wore yesterday were frozen stiff on the laundry line and our shoes were blocks of ice. I walked outside and was greeted with a Christmas scene (picture below). It had been foggy all night and as the temperature dropped, frost accumulated on the branches. This morning it was nearly an inch thick in places.

Someone started a fire and I tried to get our shoes thawed enough so that our feet could get inside them. Other thru-hikers were also trying to thaw out various items. We battled for space with a weekend hiker, who hiked to the shelter after it had stopped raining so he was completely dry but was trying to warm his hands and soften his Power Bar for breakfast because it was too hard. If I hadn't been so cold, I would have found his lack of awareness amusing.

We ran out of dry wood and the fire died, so we put clothes on the emergency blanket in the sun. By noon, we were finally ready to go. I thought it was too late to get in the 12 miles we had planned, but Magge said that she would really push it and we agreed that if we hit the shelter 7.4 miles away by 3:30pm, then we'd press on. We had an amazing day of hiking. The sky was completely clear and much of the day's hike was along ridges so we had nearly constant views, often on both sides. It never warmed up that much (there were still icy spots in the shade at the end of the day) but the sun and the continuous movement kept us warm enough. We hit the checkpoint exactly at 3:30pm so we kept moving.

We're at Tri-Corner Knob now and they're forecasting a low tonight of around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. I think it's actually below freezing. I've adjusted my shoes so that I can put my feet in them even when they freeze and will now crawl into my quilt.