Date: 2012-05-14
From: Lost Mtn

To: Hurricane Mtn
Miles today: 28.2
Weather: moderate rain

05/14/12 (pirmadienis) 28.2 ¢ 510.9 Lost Mtn ¢ Hurricane Mtn I¡au¡o lietingas rytas ir matesi kad tai truks dar pakankamai ilgai. Bjauriausia ryte yra sisivynioti ¡lapia plapine.  iuo atveju haikeriai miegantys ¡elteriuose lietui lyjant turi prana¡uma ir malonesni ryto starta. Bet a¡ nemegstu ¡elteriu. Da34niausiai jie buna ne¡varus, o taip vadinamos ¡elteriu peles yra nepaprastai i34ulios. Sklando ne viena istorija apie ¡iu sutverimu i¡radinguma siekiant maisto. Taigi susivyniojau ¡lapias me¡keres ir patraukiau takan. Vietomis lietus apstodavo, lyg ramindamas mane tik tam, kad paskui vel ¡liuk¡teltu pilna kibira ant galvos. Taip ¢plaukdamas¢ ir pasiekiau Whitetop Mountain, nuo kurio esant geram orui atsiveria nuostabi panorama i 34emai vilnijancius klonius.  iandien yra kitaip. Bet cia ir ivyko gamtos stebuklas. Staiga dangus praply¡o ir paputes vejas i¡draike pilkas debesu skaras, leid34iantis pa34velgti i nueita kelia.Toliau jau eiti buvo smagiau ir tik tarp akmenu gurgiantis vanduo ant tako verte stypcioti, ie¡kant sausesnes vietos kojai pastatyti. Kai nusileidau i Elk Garden tarpukalne, nu¡vito saule ir buvo proga i¡sisi34iovinti palapine. Kuri laika man kompanija palaike ¢Sunshine¢ ¢ labai malonus bendrauti vaikinas.Ties Thomas Knob ¡elteriu mane pralenke grupe jaunimo. Jie aptupe visas imanomas sausas vietas ¡elteryje ir man beliko tik greitai u34kandus traukti toliau. Cia man kilo mintis juos truputi prigauti. A¡ Grayson Highlands jau lankiau du kartus ¢ ¢06 ir ¢10 metais, todel eiti trecia karta cia nebuvo prasmes. Kadangi vel pradejo purk¡ti, gra34us ¡io laukiniu poniu kra¡to vaizdai i¡nyko pilkoje migloje. Nuo Rhododendron Gap takas, vadinamas Pine Mountain Trail, atsiskiria nuo AT ir vel susijungia su juo u34 dvieju myliu. Tuo tarpu einant originaliu AT taku, tektu eiti ¡e¡ias papildomas mylias. Taigi drasiai 34engiau ¡iuo nauju man taku. U34 valandos vel pedinau AT ir netrukus pasiekiau Old Orchard ¡elteri, kuriame i¡sid34iovinau kojas, palepinau jas tepaliuku ir pasikeiciau kojines. Po tokio ¢pasitobulinimo¢ dar nuejau penkias mylias iki Hurricane ¡elterio. Net neband34iau jo pasiekti, nes kaip tik tuo metu, kai a¡ pyliausi vandeni i talpas vakarienei, pasirode Elis ir prane¡e, kad visos vietos paciame ¡elteryje ir aplinkui yra ¢u34mu¡tos¢. Pasistateme palapines aik¡teleje prie pat upelio, o cia perkunas vel griaudeti pradejo...Tai tiek.---|---Dawned rainy morning and could be seen that it will take a fairly long time. The most hateful thing in the morning is to wrap up the wet tent. In this case, hikers who sleeps in the shelter have an advantage and a better start in the morning, but I do not like shelters. They are often dirty, and the so-called ¢shelters mice¢ are extremely presumptuous. In the air are flying more than one story about these creatures ingenuity to get the food. So, I rolled up the wet ¢fishing rods¢ and headed to the trail. Sometimes rain stops, slightly teasing me, only then to re-pour a bucket of water on my head. Thus, ¢swimming on¢ I got Whitetop Mountain, from which in good weather opens a magnificent panoramic view at the low-rippled walleys. Today is different. But here happened a miracle of nature. Suddenly the sky teared, and the wind scattered gray headscarves of the clouds, allowing to look at the way I have traveled.Then I have more fun to walk,- water rumbled on the trail, and I had only one way to avoid cold water ¢ to stride like a stork on stone heads. Once descended to Elk Garden Gap, sky brightened, and the sun came out, and I had a chance dry out the tent. For some time, my companion was "Sunshine" - a very nice guy to chat.Just before the Thomas Knob shelter I was surpassed by the group of young people. They took every dry place at the shelter, and I had only one option ¢ take a quick appetizer and pull on. Here, I thought I¢m gonna trick them a bit. In Grayson Highlands, I have attended twice - '06 and '10 years, so hike here for the third time did not make sense. Rain began to spray again, and the image of the beautiful wild ponies world disappeared in a gray mist. From Rhododendron Gap, I took trail known as the Pine Mountain Trail. It separates from the AT and two miles further reunites again. Meanwhile, to walk the original AT trail would give me six extra miles. An hour later I step again on AT and soon reached the Old Orchard shelter in which I dried out feet, pampered them with ointment and changed the socks. After the "improvement", I went five miles more to Hurricane shelter. I did not try to reach it because at the very moment when I filled up bottles with water for dinner, Elis appeared and announced that all places in and around shelter are "killed." We built the camp site next to the stream for the night, and here again, the thunder began to roll ... That's it.