Mapping the Sheltowee

[chester]

Day Two Charit Creek Lodge to Chestnut Ridge (14.8 miles No fords or major creek crossings)

After a huge breakfast provided by Charit Lodge consisting of eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and a tall glass of orange juice; Michele and I were ready to hit the trail once more.

Again, it was a wet and snowy morning with cold temperatures. But after a few minutes of brisk walking, we were plenty warm. We knew the approximate course and our plan was to hike to Maude’s Crack and see how we felt. It was only about 10 miles up the trail and seemed like it could be a good place to start searching for a camping spot. I felt great, but wanted to stick to the 10-mile plan. Since Michele was hiking with me, I wanted her input as well.

It continued to snow, but I guess we didn’t notice it. By the time we reached Maude’s Crack, the ground was covered white. We discussed whether to go on ahead and decided to continue to No Business, an old abandoned town further up trail. We stopped and had lunch in No Business and discussed our options. Michele made a good point. What else were we going to do? Huddle in our sleeping bags in the middle of the day? It was too cold to do anything else other than to keep moving ahead.

By the end of the day we had hiked 14.8 miles and the snow was a couple of inches deep. We had to wander around looking for a camping spot, but finally found one on top of a ridge and under some Hemlock trees. We had hoped the trees would offer some shelter from the predicted snowfall that evening.

The hiking that day was pretty easy. Trail was marked well with either the Turtle or John Muir. We knew to look for either one since they were one and the same for the rest of the day.

It was our first night pitching tents and cooking for ourselves. For two women who have no idea how to cook, this was going to be our biggest challenge of the day. We managed fine and staggered into our sleeping bags for a nights rest. The coyotes were out and in the middle of the night, one came close to Michele’s tent and howled. We were happy we decided to hang our food bags. We had nothing to offer him, so he went away.

[Ewker]

sorry but I had to laugh at your comment about 2 women not knowing how to cook. Were you cooking in your pot or freezer bag cooking?

Glad you hung your food esp with the coyote sniffing around

[chester]

We had freeze dried food that we boiled. We bought it in bulk from Emergency Essentials. It was actually really, really good!

[Ewker]

I haven't used that company before. You aren't the first person to tell me they have good food. I may have to check them out