Day 33

Well, that was the coldest morning I’ve ever woken up to in a tent. After packing up and getting going, I was being blown around with major wind gusts and my Tempe thermometer was showing 20.3 degrees. I kept my water filter in my pant pocket as well as the smaller water bottle I drink out of. That kept it from freezing. My 1 liter bottle of water on the side of my pack started freezing. I had to push an ice plug down at the top of the bottle just so I could get water out of it. It didn’t get above freezing until around 2pm. Only when I hit the open area with full sun did the temp just barely hit 40 degrees. A couple hours after that and it was back to below freezing again. I made it to my target shelter by 4pm and the shelter was already completely full of hikers with sleeping bags side by side, and a double decker at that! Tenting options here at Cosby Knob Shelter is not good. I couldn’t find a flat spot anywhere but luckily I was the first tenter so I got as decent a spot as I could find. It’s about 6:30pm now and tents are popping up all around me. This is the busiest shelter I’ve seen. There’s a big bubble of people who’ve all been hiking together here and they’re all planning on going to Standing Bear and partying it up tomorrow so I’ve already decided that’s a no-go for me. As for the new hostel, a couple here at this shelter just got the last beds there. So, I guess that means I either stay on trail and keep going (except I must resupply food before I can) or I just take a hit to the budget and call a shuttle to take me to Newport and see if I can get a hotel room for the night near a supermarket. That means I’ll have to get another shuttle the next day back out to the trail. It’s not close so this is going to cost me. Oh well. I’ll work on saving the budget later. I’m sure I’ll want to stay out longer when it isn’t below freezing every night. The skin on my fingers are so dry they’re cracking and using my fingers to do anything stings. I just want to spread my gear out in a hotel room, clean everything up, clean myself up abs put some lotion on my skin and get ready for the next section. I’ll be happy to get out of the Smokies where I have to stay at shelters. It will be nice to have more camping location options. I’ve yet had a camp spot that was just me and no one else around. That would be nice. The trek continues…