Today we left Neel's Gap at different times - I was doing business at the outfitters and my dad didn't want to wait around so he left a couple hours before me. As you leave Neel's Gap you immediately go up a steep hill. At first it was cold, then it was really cold then I was climbing & climbing and got to an altitude where the trees were all bare and had white bark. I thought they were interesting and couldn't wait to ask my dad what kind of trees they were. As I got even higher up I realized that it wasn't white bark, but ice on the branches! At that point I really began to feel the cold. It's called "hoar frost" and it forms b/c of the clouds, cold temperature and the wind. The wind must have been blowing about 40 mph - no exaggeration - and the temperature was around 20 degrees with the wind chill factor. I can't really fully describe how cold it was out there.
We got to the place where the shelter was just around 5PM but it was 1.5 miles off the trail and it already took us 45 minutes to go 6/10 of a mile just before then in this cold temperature, strong wind and steep terrain. So we decided to catch a ride into town and stay at a motel for the night instead of possibly freezing to death.
1 comment:
this is the first time I've had a chance to post a comment--but love reading how things are going!
chatted briefly with your bachelor at church yesterday. ; )
lisa c.
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