Date: 2014-04-29
From: Lost Mountain Shelter

To: Wise Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was brutal! Storm, wind, climbing mountains, bad trail conditions, rocks, fog, and no ponies!!Last night was fun, even though the shelter was packed. Everybody hung out in their sleeping bags but just talked well into the night (by "well into the night" I mean like 9:30pm out here). It started raining at about 3am and didn't stop. It was raining when I woke up, and didn't look like it was going to stop. I didn't have service, so I couldn't check the weather - one of my favorite things to do. There was some lightning off in the distance, but seemed to stop after a little while. I packed up all my stuff, put on my rain gear, and headed out to hike in the rain. The first 4 miles were a gradual, but long climb up White Top mountain. When I got to the top, the wind was blowing so hard! I had to walk at about a 45 degree angle to the side to avoid being pushed over. It was the strongest wind I have ever felt. Reptar was getting blown off the trail, and had to run against the wind to keep up! When I got around the mountain, there was enough tree cover and much less wind. The rain even stopped. I was able to find service and check the weather forecast, which called for thunderstorms in the afternoon. The trail had literally become a stream from all of the rain. I tried to avoid getting my feet wet (my shoes are not waterproof) for about 20 steps and then just realized it was pointless. I trudged through the water, ranging from about 2-8 inches on the trail itself for about half of the day. It became even worse when I was hiking up to Graceland Highlands, as the trail became solely jagged rocks with water flowing through them. It was so hard to hike. My shoes have terrible traction on wet rocks, so I fell multiple times. My socks became so soaked I was able to wring out quite a bit of water at the end of the day. Graceland Highlands park is known for it's wild ponies that survive off of the land that are often very friendly and easily approachable. I looked hard for these ponies, as I really wanted to see one, but couldn't find any in the dense fog. In a way, I felt like I was in Jurassic Park, though instead of looking for vicious, carnivorous dinosaurs, I was searching for harmless, grass-eating, cute little ponies. I ran into some other hikers, and they said they saw two groups of ponies!It never did storm again. Or even rain. I got to the shelter at about 3pm and was the only one here. The shelter register was full of people bragging about their pony experiences. I was very jelly. A little while later, a hiker I've been leap frogging for the past week named "Chops" showed up. We are the only ones here for the night, so there is plenty of space for all of our stuff. It's supposed to storm tonight, and scattered thunderstorms are predicted for the morning, but who knows. Weather in the mountains is unpredictable. Regardless, we are staying dry in the shelter once again tonight, and don't have to pack away wet tents in the morning!Despite the very difficult day, I maintained high spirits most of the time. I knew there was nothing I could do about the harsh conditions, so I just rolled with the punches and tried to enjoy as much as I could.