Cold Night on Cold Mountain

I spent the night of October 1 at the foot of Cold Mountain in Cruso, NC. I took the airhead and my winter equipment. I though my sleeping bag was warmer than it proved to be that night! The temperature got into the mid 30's (3-5 Celsius). I was terribly cold during the night. I left my cotton socks on during the night and I believe that was my mistake. I would have had warmer feet without the socks. The next morning I had to wait for the sun to up over the mountain before I could cook my breakfast of sausage and eggs with coffee. After packing up I rode over to check out Balsam Lake in the Nanthahala National Forest. I found the lake although the directional signs had been removed thanks to roadwork going on under our leaders stimulus plan.
The lake was quite low but it was a beautiful setting. There is a lodge where rooms can be reserved for weekends and holidays.
After visiting the lake I set off for home. I seemed to have caught a cold from the night of camping and had a runny nose. I hate riding with a helmet when my nose is running!

The weekend of October 15-17 is the ADV Rider's Old School Fall Meeting in Tellico Plains, TN. That will probably be my last outing of the year. We shall see!