Well, my hands—and feet—have been that cold—and colder—numerous times since then. I got COLD in the Smokies! Indeed, the cold weather has been my biggest challenge yet.

My first morning in the Smokies, I woke up at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter after a relatively sleepless night—I hadn't slept because I was shivering all night. Even with a fleece liner, my 20-degree bag wasn't warm enough to keep me comfortable.

That morning, my water, which I had kept in the stuff sack I use as a pillow, was frozen. My boots, too, were frozen solid, despite my having kept them wrapped in a plastic bag at the bottom of my sleeping bag all night. Even my shoelaces were frozen! It took me 30 minutes just to get my boots on, and I couldn't tie them until after I'd hiked several hours, when the shoelaces thawed out and became more malleable.

But my fingers and toes felt the most frozen of all! I couldn't feel either, and that made walking around and packing up a bit difficult. In fact, it took me more than two hours to get ready that morning.

It was 13 degrees on my thermometer. Not the ideal weather situation for a Louisiana girl! [MORE. . .]

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