11-8-12

Days since my thruhike began: 204

We used today to get winter gear. I got a balaclava, knee-high gaiters, warm wool socks, crampons to slide over my shoes and I got new, waterproof shoes. This hurts my pocketbook, but will keep me warm and safer while hiking in slush, snow, freezing wind and ice. Yesterday was a scary taste of winter and I've been told that there is more snow further south of here. Gary, at the outfitter in Luray, was very helpful and he gave us the name of Kathy, who has been an amazing trail angel and offered us an RV to sleep in tonight and a ride back to the trail tomorrow. She picked us up at the laundromat, ran us to the store and took us to her rv, which has electricity and a plug in heater! Thank you!

It was warmer today but there is still a freeze warning tonight. We can't avoid all those freezing nights, but last night and tonight we have a sheltered place to sleep, and now we are both better prepared for winter hiking so we can finish our thruhikes. I'm worried about breaking in new shoes, and I don't know if I got the best fit, because there wasn't as much of a selection as I could have wished for, but I'll have to go with what I got and hope they work okay.