Date: 2005-03-31
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Hiawassee, GA6.1 miles (66.6 total miles)What a difference a day makes! Last night as we went to sleep, everything was calm and beautiful. We were awakened a few times by the sound of footsteps. JoAnne poked her head out of the tent, and saw a few deer roaming around our campsite. I think that a small group of boy scouts had camped in their sleeping area. It was a beautiful night.Then, sometime early this morning, I was awakened by the sound of rain on the tent. I couldn't believe it. The rain wasn't supposed to come until tonight, when we were resting in the shelter. There wasn't a cloud in the sky when I got into the tent for the night. I was hoping it was just a passing shower, and it would clear up until tonight. But as the morning came in, the rain just got harder.I wanted to wait for a lull in the rain to pack up, but there never was one. Finally we just left. We packed up everything, soaking wet, and hiked out of the gap. The rain was a heavy, bone-chilling wet. It wasn't long before my shoes were filled with water. It was pointless to walk around the puddles (which covered the trail), so I slogged right through. My clothes soaked completely through. My pants were so heavy with water that I had a hard time keeping them around my waist. And the wind howled as we crossed the exposed ridges.It wasn't much of a decision for us that we needed to get into town. We passed Forrest on our way out. "Will we see you in Hiawassee?" I asked. He said he'd push on to the next shelter. We climbed a long, frigid mountain through the mud, then down to the next gap. Forrest was suddenly right behind me. "Didn't take me long to change my mind and go into town!" he said. We hurried along, cranking out 6 fairly hard miles in under 3 hours.We got to Dick's Creek Gap at about 9:30am. There was a small gathering of hikers there. Most were heading on to the next shelter. They claimed they would never finish the trail if they stopped every time it rained. That is true, but hiking in the rain in June is much different than hiking in the rain in March. The conditions were perfect for hypothermia. Also, if we had stayed in a shelter last night, at least our gear would have been dry. Instead, everything we owned was soaked, and the temperature was hovering around 45 degrees. I couldn't imagine not drying out.We caught a shuttle to Hiawassee with Forrest, and a couple named Joe and Kimberly. We got a room at the Holiday Inn Express, which is way too fancy for us hikers. I am not sure why they give special rates to us, when we make more of a mess than their average customer. The fog listed here in town enough for us to do our chores (supermarket, laundry, etc.). But I am sure it is not so nice in the mountains.The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be worse than today. They are predicting severe thunderstorms with over two inches of rain. That is the forecast for town, so who knows what'll be happening in the mountains. We'll most likely be taking it easy here in Hiawassee. The weather is supposed to clear up after tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be hiking again. I am very frustrated to be holed up in town for another day and a half. But given the cold, wet weather, waiting out this storm is the wise thing to do.