Snow Storms on the Appalachian Trail

This morning we woke up in Hawk Mountain Shelter around 4:30am and made some coffee. Then we’re walking within the hour, and it was snowing! Nothing like snow on our first full day along the Appalachian trail. Once we left the shelter we began a morning of gradual up’s and downs.

I wore my rain gear all morning to keep the moisture off. Plus it was freezing cold! Luckily the montbell rain jacket has pit zips. So I was able to regulate my temperature very well. I would warm up on the climbs and unzip. Then zip back up as we proceeded downhill. That helped to keep me perfectly comfortable all morning long.

It was a dark and snowy morning as we set out along the trail.

The snow kept up for hours as we walked along the trail. As it began to collect it made for some beautiful views across the forest. It feels so good to be on the AT! And surreal at the same time. It’s just hard to believe that we’re already here. Accomplishing the east coast is really all that I’ve been thinking about. This is the crux of the calendar year. As long as we stay on track and hammer this trail out, we’ll be set up for the entire trek. The PCT and CDT will both be much easier trails relative to this. Other than dealing with the potential complications of closures and wildfires out west.

The snow made the Appalachian trail look stunning!

I was pleasantly surprised how strong I felt on all of the small climbs over the course of the day. My body cooperated well and allowed me to push my way up without having to stop. I got my breathing dialed in and was feeling really good. We only had one longer climb to do and the rest were fairly quick and easy. I know this is one of the easier sections of the trail though. So there will certainly be longer and harder climbs to come. But I’m ready for the challenge of it all!

The morning was very cold but we managed just fine. And knowing that we would be getting picked up at Woody Gap, only 12 miles into the day, made it all feel easy. We never stopped until we got to the gap. But the hiking wasn’t bad at all. Over the course of the morning we passed about 15 hikers. Most of them will be getting off at one of the upcoming roads to head into town. There is alot of precipitation today and the temperatures are going to drop drastically as the day goes on. Then tomorrow it’s supposed to be near zero degrees, with wind chill on some of the mountains bringing temperatures into the negatives.

Making our way toward Woody Gap.

By 10am we arrived at Woody Gap and got picked up by Monarch. I met her for the first time in Montana on the CDT. She gave us a place to stay and drove us into the national park to deal with getting permits. She even drove us so that we could rent those E-bikes and bike the Going to the Sun Road together. That was one of my favorite memories of the whole trail, even before the CDT officially started. She works up in glacier during the summer season, and in the spring she is a ridge runner down here in Georgia. We just happened to arrive when she was off work for a couple of days. So she offered to help us out and bring us into town today to escape the weather.

Arriving at Woody Gap, where we were going to get picked up and brought into Dahlonega.

Fortunately the roads were clear enough to drive safely into Dahlonega. Monarch brought us right to the Quality inn. And she even brought us a pizza to eat on the car ride! What a sweetheart. It was nice to see Zoby again, her adorable little dog who actually hiked the entire AT with her a few years back. When we checked in she chatted up the lady at the front desk and told her what we were doing. She let us check in before it was even 11am. Which was amazing! That means a whole long day of relaxing at the room. Once we checked in I took a piping hot shower. We weren’t out that long this morning, but it didn’t take long for your feet to get wet and cold. It felt great to shower and warm up. Then I just lounged in bed and got some work done.

Monarch had to do her weekly resupplying and prep for being out as a ridge runner. And she asked if we needed anything from the store. She brought us each a half gallon of chocolate milk, which was amazing! That’s my town day staple these days. It’s truly the fastest and most enjoyable way to take down 1,000+ calories in one sitting. And I feel like it’s been helping a lot to keep my weight more consistent and balanced over these last few weeks.

My town day staple, a half gallon of chocolate milk.

At the room I laid my tent and other gear out that was wet. It will be nice to get everything dry before heading back out into the cold. Then we just relaxed at the room for the rest of the day. The motel was a ways away from the downtown area with all of the restaurants. But we were within range for DoorDash! So we ordered a whole bunch of food to enjoy at the room. I got a sushi burrito with spicy tuna, and then a platter with rice and steak for later on.

A sushi burrito with spicy tuna, avocado, and tempura crisps. It was so good!

The rest of the day was just spent relaxing at the room, watching TV and hanging around. I got my weekly YouTube video edited. Which should be live by the time you’re reading this! My YouTube is @madisonblagden if you want to watch my weekly vlog style videos, gear videos, of daily “shorts” style videos. I also got some blogging done and a couple gear related blogs that I’m going to be putting out.

Eating hibachi rice and steak in bed.

In the evening we got a little excitement at the room. Around 10pm about 4 sheriff officers walked by the room and began knocking loudly on the room next door. No one wound up answering but they stayed there knocking for a while. Then around 11pm we heard someone outside screaming! They were yelling for someone to call the police. That apparently someone fell in the shower in the room next door, and they didn’t have a phone to call. So I called the police just in case no one else did. And within the next 10 or so minutes a bunch of police arrived. It was a whole scene. Not long after that I fell asleep, and woke up around 2:30am to the sound of knocking again. I could hear the police outside checking in on the people at the room next door. I have no idea what actually went on, but it was clearly madness! There’s always something going on.

Earlier in the evening we had decided to take the day off tomorrow because of the weather. The feels like temperature on Blood Mountain is going to be -13 degrees tomorrow. It would be a very cold and questionable day to be out in the mountains. Plus with all of the rain and snow, the trail is likely going to be iced over. And we don’t have microspikes currently. I didn’t think we would need them because there isn’t any snow out here. So hopefully by the time we get back out there on Friday morning the trail will be a little warmer and less icy. Friday is still going to be cold, but it isn’t going to be windy. So the temperatures will be a whole lot more manageable.

I love chugging a half gallon of chocolate milk whenever I can.

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