day 15 - 3/25

so it rained last night and the wind howled and the temp dropped to right around freezing. the pic below is of the snow along the trail. the air smelled amazingly fresh this morning. today's hike was really tough. starting with having to put on cold, wet socks. brrrr. the hike was pretty treacherous at places. i love hiking ridgelines where either side is a drop of hundreds of feet. it is a little scary, however, when there is a steady wind of about 30mph with gusts up to 50mph, where at moments the only thing keeping you from getting knocked off the ridge is your best friend - your trekking poles. i really love my poles. they have already saved my butt more times than i would like to admit. a bummer about today is that i got a bunch of blisters. i'll have to assess the damage tomorrow and make use of my moleskin to get me through my planned 18mi tomorrow. 20.3mi from icewater spring to cosby gap shelter. 228mi total.