Wednesday 4/27/05
Start -Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Stop - Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles travelled 7.7
At last I'm below snow line. The days hike was marred by my first slip and it didn't even happen on the trail. I planned an early start and was up by 6:30. My feet went out from under me as I was on the way to the privy. Came down right on my back. It sent shock waves through my entire body. To add insult to injury, I ended up in the spring and could only lay there while the ice cold water soaked my clothes. Once I assured my shelter mates that nothing seemed to be broken they tried to help me up. The pain was unbearable and I told them to leave me alone. After about 10 minutes I was able to get to my feet and get back into my sleeping bag. The best way to dry wet clothes in bad weather is to climb in the bag and let the trapped body heat dry them. It took 5 hours in the bag and 4 Advil before I could start getting ready to leave. During that time I do believe that I would have accepted an offer to be evacuated out.
Once I got started, the back loosened up some and went from painful to uncomfortable.
The climbs up Mt Sequoia and Mt. Chapman were very difficult because of accumulated ice and snow. The descent from Mt Chapman was even worse. The trail was just an icy chute. It was stil extremely cold with strong winds.
Posted by at April 27, 2005 12:54 AM