And then it snowed

I woke up at 6:15AM, restless, so I decided to start preparing for the day ahead. The temperature was 33.4 degrees F, in mid-April. It made for a lovely morning.

I had two oatmeal-to-go bars and an eight ounce carton of orange juice for breakfast. I purchased a six pack of eight ounce cartons of orange juice, and it is worth every ounce.

Hardbound and I were on trail at 7:00AM, our earliest start yet.

The frost and snow made for a nice change of scenery. I easily built up a sweat going up and down the mountains of southwest Virginia. The downside is that the sweat started to freeze, giving me the chills. It was a version of Catch-22.

As I dscended into the lower elevations towards US route 11/I-83, the snow dissapeared. The grass was green, and cows were being lazy in a nearby field.

At the road crossing, I had a cheeseburger, fries, and coffee for lunch.

This is where Hardbound and I went out seperate ways. He was meeting his parents for the night, and I was hiking 2.7 more miles. Tomorrow I shall do a short ten mile day to let him catch up.

I hiked the last 2.7miles to the shelter with Cookie. We talked about many random things.

We arrived at the shelter at 12:47PM, and discovered the was source was .5 south on the AT.

I grabbed my water containers, and then we were off. There really is no spring .5 south. We ended up walking down a deer path, which lead to a stream. What lead the local trail club to build a shelter with no water nearby baffles me.

Mother nature then decided there needed to be snow on the ground. It snowed about one inch. Down here, this was a blizzard. For me, it's just a nuiscance.

I am now preparing to make hot chocolate and curl up in my sleeping bag to keep warm.

Tomorrow I shall walk 10 miles, which will allow Hardbound to catch up.

And did you know that there are stars in the southern skies? Yeah, apparently southward as you go.

Good night, and good luck.

Kirby

Ga>ME 2008.