I woke up at 7am indoors, on a mattress, and with a pillow. At 8:15 the hostel host served the ten backpackers breakfast. It was an excellent meal. I even had seconds. While we were eating it started snowing. At 9:30 Gary gave us a ride back to the trail, 3.4 miles away.
Soon after I was back on trail there was maybe an inch of snow on the ground. It looked beautiful with all of the branches trimmed in white. The higher in elevation I got the heavier the snow got.
When I got to 78.5 miles I was at the GA-NC border. One state down, thirteen to go!
The sustained wind was back. The snow/ice pellets were blowing horizontal. I kept my head down as I hiked. When I looked up the pellets stung my face. When I had 3-4 miles left I decided I needed to eat something so that I'd have the energy to get up and over the mountain. I got behind the root mass of a fallen tree to escape the wind for a short break. As I got closer to the top the wind became even more fierce. I kept my head down following the foot prints from other hikers. I felt like I was in survival mode. There was a white stripe the length of the trees from the wind driven snow. After I had reached the top and started down I was protected from the wind, the snow was now coming straight down.
When I reached the shelter I joined the four other guys already there. By 6:15 we were all in our sleeping bags. The wind, snow,and cold temperatures were brutal.
Jeff, That breakfast looks awesome. Thought you'd lose a bunch of weight hiking 6-15 miles everyday but with meals like that I may be wrong. Hopefully the weather will turn for you soon and continued success on your adventure. Pat Shea
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