My Backpacking Trip - Day 3

Last night I had hypothermia, or nearly had hypothermia, I'm not sure which. I woke up on the morning of day 3 and felt warm from all the hand warmers on me. I lay in my sleeping bag for a while then finally sat up and peeked outside. It was sunny! I got up and got dressed in warm clothes and went outside into the sun. I dug my stove out of my backpack and boiled water for coffee and some nice hot oatmeal for breakfast.

It clouded up as I was making breakfast and then snow flurries started coming down. The snow got harder and harder and the wind really picked up, driving the snowflakes horizontally.






I had a decision to make- should I continue on with the trip or should I stay here and hunker down in the snow? Today was my last full day and night in the Big South Fork, tomorrow I would drive to Mammoth Cave National Park. I didn't want to go too much farther because it would be too much distance to cover back to the car tomorrow and still make it to Mammoth Cave before dark. I also had no idea how much snow would be coming, how cold it would get, or if I could even see some sleet or freezing rain. If I pressed on I faced a long hike tomorrow on a trail that could be covered in snow or ice.

I decided to stay put since I had a decent shelter with the tarp over my tent. I set myself to work gathering firewood so I could stay warm all day. As I was gathering wood the snow stopped and sun came out and it got warmer. I went to the creek to get water for the day and I brought my dirty clothes with me. I threw the clothes in the creek and got them soaking wet then rang them out as best I could. I did this several times. My hands were shriveled and frozen when I was finally finished with the clothes. I went back to the campsite and as I was hanging the clothes on a line to dry the sky darkened and another snow squall moved in. It was windy and snowing hard before I finished hanging the clothes.

I went under the tarp and a few minutes later the snow stopped and it got sunny again. I decided to try a short day hike of a few miles so I would have something to do and so I could see more of the trace. I brought a backpack with some snacks and water, a cigarette lighter, and gloves and a hat and hit the trace once more. I walked about a mile when I ran into two guys walking toward me with packs and walking poles.

"Are you the two guys from Ohio who drove that red truck?" I asked.

"Yes, why?" was the reply.

"Oh, I was wondering if I was going to see you on the loop or not. I'm parked next to you. Just trying to keep tabs on who else is out here." I answered.

"Oh, thank God. The last time someone asked us that here my truck had been broken into." The guy said. I told him I had hiked back to the parking lot yesterday and his truck was OK at that time and he seemed a little more at ease. He told me there was a wooden lean-to shelter about a mile on down the trail from where we were and he recommended that I move there if I was going to stay here tonight since the snow kept coming down.

I thanked them and walked on. I decided I would go check out the shelter and see if it was better than the place I was in now. I hiked for at least a mile and a half and never saw the shelter. I passed the Cotton Patch Creek on my walk. This was set up similar to Negro creek in that there was a small bridge/ladder to climb on top of a large boulder that had fallen and wedged above the creek bed. Once on the boulder it was a jump down off of it.


Cotton Patch Creek crossing


I turned around at one point and went back to my campsite. I never saw the shelter and didn't want to hike that far with all my gear in potentially bad weather. There was no where that was flat along the path I walked where I could set up camp in an emergency. If I couldn't find the shelter I would be stuck out in the open overnight. It had began to snow yet again and that just seemed to prove to me that my decision was the right one.


The view of my campsite in the snow when I returned from my day hike.


When I returned I ate some Power Bars and beef jerky for lunch and had some hot chocolate to warm up. I continued gathering fire wood for the fire that night. My clothes were no where close to being dry. Surprisingly out of all the clothing my good old fashioned DuoFold long underwear was the driest and the several Under Armor items were the wettest. In the middle were the North Face Tekware and a Columbia Titanium shirt. I thought the Under Armor would have been the first to dry.

I cooked Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki with Ricefor dinner. It was very, very good.


Dinner, night 3

The sun came out as I was eating and set behind the hill across the river. I sat up for a while drinking hot chocolate and playing with the camp fire. I had the best cup of hot chocolate I have ever drank right there, as the sun set and I sat in front of the campfire, alone, at peace with the world, and happy to be alive.