Braving the storm on Blood Mountain

That morning we woke up to strong winds and rain. Luckily the rain had eased from what we had endured while we slept. Although the tent cover had held firm, rain had entered through the gap at the bottom of the cover and wet my side of the quilt. Groundwater had also seeped onto the footprint and had also wet the underside of our sleeping pad. It sounds strange to say, but there is freedom in the helplessness of waking up in the middle of the night to a water intrusion and not being able to do anything about it, so you just go back to sleep and think, «that’s going to be a problem to solve tomorrow.»

Pack up camp in a storm

That morning it did arrive. We had the precarious job of packing up as much as we could while the three of us were still squashed inside the store. After taking turns dressing, I headed outside to brave the strong winds and rain. While Cody packed up our sleeping system, I dressed Turkenna in her Ruffwear raincoat and retrieved the backpack Cody had tied to a tree the night before. Finally Cody left the store. We secured our waterproof skirts around our waste, strapped our backpacks to our backs, and headed to Blood Mountain.

Blood Mountain Shelter

The rain started to let up just in time for us to hit hail, then fog, then sleet. Cody sang to himself, «We went up Blood Mountain. Through the rain and the snow. Will we make it? I don’t know.» Seeing the historic cobblestone shelter appear through the dense fog helped us muster the energy to take the final steps to reach the top of the mountain. We were greeted by some friendly faces and even more friends arrived as we all sat lighting our individual stoves, warming ourselves with cups of coffee and sharing in the victory of conquering Blood Mountain.

Sweet victory at Neel Gap

We were the first in the crowded shelter to pack up and brave the weather that stood between us and Neel Gap. The rest of the trip to Neel Gap was similar to what we had already seen. But knowing that warmth, food and shelter awaited us kept our morale and determination high. As we staggered out of the forest, you could see through the fog the infamous trees with the dangling boots of former hikers. The tradition of hanging boots on trees began because Neel Gap was a popular drop-off spot for hikers.

We stayed at Neel Gap for almost two hours. The sun finally began to rise but the wind was relentless. I headed straight for the hidden fireplace at the back of the room. While I warmed up and dried my gloves and hat, Cody got to work doing chores. Tent and cover lying in the sun: consult. Charging phones and battery banks; check. Ordered hot pizza: check. Snack replenishment: consult. I called the family to check in: check. Turk and I were working hard keeping the firefighters company and resting after a hard morning.

Hike to camp

But the day was going to slip away if we stayed much longer. In the end we had to continue again. Most of the afternoon was much quieter than the morning. The stretches of trail that allowed the mountain to protect us from the wind were coveted. We had plans to stay at any campground before Tesnatee, but everywhere we tried it was too windy. We would arrive at a place and it would be at the top of a bald spot with total exposure to the wind. We walked a couple more miles and the camp at the foot of two peaks was in what looked like a wind tunnel.

One last climb to the camp

So we were forced to continue. Looking down, there was a shelter about a mile down the trail, but almost a mile and a quarter down a spit trail. The only thing standing between us and a well-deserved, warm night’s sleep was Tesnatee’s «Death Hill.» A one-mile section with at least a dozen switchbacks and nearly 800 feet of elevation gain. Doing that with fresh legs may not have been so bad, but climbing that mountain after 12 miles of hiking, we struggled up that hill! But one foot later We headed steadily towards Whitley Shelter. We found two friendly faces welcoming us. We quickly completed our evening tasks: hanging things to dry in the last few minutes of sunlight, preparing dinner in our JetBoil, and turning in for a very good night’s rest.

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