hiking

These pics are from a few weeks ago. My car said it was -3 degrees (Fahrenheit) when I parked at Caledonia.


When it's that cold your breath freezes on your mustache hairs.


Man, I look old in that picture. The crows' feet...

I got on the AT and walked past this shelter. I was surprised to find it unoccupied, in spite of the cold. A couple of years ago I spent a night at the Big Flat shelter in about 10 degree weather and we were just one of three parties there that night.


Atop the ridge:


Leftovers from the ice storm a few days earlier:


The snowfall was recent, but the ice on these pines was from days before. Cold enough that week that even in the sun the ice didn't melt.

It was on this walk that my hiking boots disintegrated. I've never seen anything quite like it. After three hours of hiking I happen to look at my boots and notice that the big rubber soles had caverns the length of the shoe wide open on one side each. The rubber sole had been grinding away internally and when I took a boot off to investigate more closely several tablespoons of rubber shavings poured out. There was no sign of damage when I put them on.