Date: 2006-06-28
From: Raush Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: few clouds

Wow! What a day! We survived another night of rain- ALL NIGHT LONG- but everything we own is soaking wet. Between the entire day of rain yesterday and the rain last night, we have been wet for over 24 hours now. Hiking through rain becomes a completely different experience. Our packs now weigh twice as much as normal. It doesn't matter what kind of packcover or rain gear we have, the amount of rain we have experienced has soaked through everything. Our sleeping bags, extra shirts and socks, food bags, boots, and anything else we may be carrying are all completely wet. Carrying wet gear, setting up a wet tent, and sleeping in wet clothes due to sweat and rain is no fun, but is something we have learned to deal with. This morning we woke up to everything still being wet, as nothing was able to dry through the night. The rain seemed to stop just long enough for us to pack up camp, and the skies seemed to be clearing. We put on our wet boots that had puddles of water collected on the inside, and started hiking for the day. The sun began to shine and looked like it might actually stay out for most of the day. About 4 miles into our hike, the trail crossed a road and we found a rope and sign warning us to take a detour around that section of the trail. The next 5 miles we were supposed to hike was all completely flooded- shoulder high. The detour sent us up the road and we decided to take advantage of the sun that was still shining. We found a place to pull over to dry out all of our gear. Mouse, Baro, Donkey Love, Hot Springs, and me had all of our gear spread out along the side of the road attempting to let the sun dry things out. It looked like we were having a yard sale on the side of the road. For the next hour we sat there eating lunch and waiting for most of gear to dry. We then continued up the road to find yet another detour. The bridge we were supposed to cross to get back on trail was alright, but once to the other side the trail was still flooded. The white blazes that are marked on the trees to show the path of the A.T. are usually right at eye level. In this spot, the water was covering part of the white blaze. So we continued up the road trying to decide how and where we could get back on trail. We were approaching the Interstate 81 overpass and we knew the trail connected somewhere close to the interstate. Gringo and Hot Springs were a few minutes behind the rest of us, so we decided to wait for them before we continued on to find the trail. We sat there at the bottom of the hill on the side of the 2-lane road watching some cars drive through the flooded street while others came across the standing water and made the decision to turn around. We waited for about 15 minutes and then looked up towards the top of the hill to see Gringo and Hot Springs coming. Not only were they coming down the hill, but there were several other hikers with them. At first, none of us could determine who these mystery hikers were. Then Mouse, the one with the "eagle eyes" said, "I think that's Shasta and H-Bomb." We hadn't seen those girls in over a month, but we knew they had been hiking very long days to try and catch up with us. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Do you think they are close enough to catch us?" asked Donkey Love. Baro kept looking towards the top of the hill not saying a word. "Well, is it the H-Bomb shuffle coming down the hill?" I asked Mouse. "I think it might be. One girl is taller and one is a little shorter, so I think it might be them," he replied. I was starting to get excited as I had been missing these girls and had been hoping they would catch up with us soon; but, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high until I knew for sure it was them. The longer we kept watching, the closer they came. We could only see a group at first, but now we were beginning to see faces. It WAS them! Shasta and H-Bomb had somehow caught up with us! At one point they were over an entire week behind us, but now I was looking right at them! It was like a family reunion as they came down the street, through the flooded waters, and started giving hugs to everyone. Our crew that had been split up over a month ago was almost all back together. So we all took off together seeking out the best way to avoid the flooded areas and to get back on trail. With some help from a few locals, we ended up spotting the ridgeline from the road, and bushwacking our way up to the A.T. Baro, Mouse, Gringo, Shasta, H-Bomb, Donkey Love, Hot Springs, Sleeping Ninja, Baldilocks, and I all managed to get back on the trail despite bushwacking through the overgrown weeds, thorns, rocks, poison ivy, and stingweed. We were now on our way to the 501 shelter. When we got to the shelter, several other hikers were already there and it was pretty full. A man named Peter was there giving hikers rides 3 miles into town for dinner and to resupply on food. Arby's tasted pretty good. Thanks Peter for the unexpected trail magic- a trip into town. Thank you God for another full day of excitement- a full day of sunshine, the safety to avoid the floods and to get back on trail, the joy of being reunited with friends, the generosity of complete strangers, and the reminder that You make all things work out for the best- not in our timing, but in Yours.