Date: 2014-05-13
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: McQueens Knob Emergency Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The morning started off gorgeous. I heard some thunder and lightening during the night but no rain fell on my tent.The trail down from the shelter was mainly a gentle descent from the shelter. It was a singing out loud kinda morning. I was in love with the forest.At the road crossing, I was puzzled. Where was the big party I kept hearing about? A southbound hiker told me it was just over the hill. They warned me it was easy to get stuck there because they stayed for 48 hours. Yikes!Aquaman & Tricks and Sheepdog & Butterfly arrived at the Riff-Raff party at the same time as me. It was still morning, and not much was going on. I had a pop and chatted with a couple hikers ( Gator, Irish Mist) before heading on.The trail went through a cow pasture with lots of cow poop before heading back in the forest. I heard massive crashing noises in the trees and think I caught a glimpse of a black bear. Nearby, at Double Springs Shelter there was lots of reports of black bear sightings so I pretty sure it was one.After a break at the shelter, I continued until reading Low Gap. A flip-flop 2014 hiker named Bangarang had trail magic set up for the day. He had arrived early at Damascus and decided to rent a car and enjoy the day at gap. I happily accepted his hospitality and devoured cake, chips, grape and a pop. He told me he thought it was going to thunderstorm but I told him, no way. The sky seemed blue and the clouds were scattered.About 30 minutes after leaving the gap, it thunderstormed. The thunder was deafening and the lightening was too close for comfort. I was in an exposed spot and should have crouched down a few times.There was a short break in the storm and I came across a section hiker named Smokey huddled up under a poncho with his Australian Cattle dog named Lily. He saw the storm coming and decided to hunker down in a gap rather than hike through it.We hike up Queens Knob to the Emergency Shelter. This is a decrepit old AT shelter built in 1934 that is no longer maintained. I told him I was going to stop there to take my rain gear off. Smokey looked at the sky and told me to hold off because the storm wasn't over yet.Sure enough, the sky opened up and dumped rain. I was chilled and wrapped myself in my Gossamer Gear foam pad for warmth. The 'real' shelter was only 1.4 miles away but I figured it was already full. The Emergency Shelter only had room for two hikers to lie down. The rain wasn't letting up so Smokey and I decided spend the night there. Smokey is a former police officer and currently works as a firefighter EMT in Ohio. Despite, large gaps in the logs and the building starting to fall apart, he said said it was structurally sound.I was extremely lucky to wind up in the shelter with Smokey. He is a kind man and had tons of interesting stories that kept me entertained late into the evening. He even managed to light a fire in front of the shelter for warmth with pretty wet wood. Other hikers soaked to the bone passed out little home looking super puzzled. We kept telling them that the real shelter was ahead. Only one hiker decided to stay and camp near us.Smokey shared his dinner with me - Mountain House Mac and Cheese with a tuna packet. His dog Lily is super sweet and I loved sitting with her and comforting her during the claps of thunder.It was a tight squeeze to lay out our mats in the tiny shelter. Lily snuggled in between us. We chatted about aliens and Bigfoot before I fell sound asleep. Sorry for snoring right beside you into your ear Smokey!