Date: 2003-05-05
From: camping south of Symms Gap Meadow

To: campsite north of Wind Rock 
Miles today: 18.2

I finally had to find out what it's like to pack up in the rain. This morning, around 5am, it started to rain, not too heavy, but rain nevertheless. It quit for a while around 6:45, and I took advantage of that time to go pee, and fetch our food bags. I had breakfast in bed. It wasn't too terribly difficult to pack everything but the tent, while in the tent. My one-man tent is pretty small, so I kept touching the sides, getting things a little damp. Not too bad, for my first effort, I thought.I wore my rain pants and jacket to start the day, as the wind was still ripping, and if light rain wasn't falling, it was dripping from the trees. Four section hikers that had tented just south of us started earlier than us, and when we caught them, I asked how far they were going. They said today was the second day of a 350-mile section! What a way to start the second day! As a thruhiker, I feel I have to just deal with it, no going home due to bad weather. I suppose those section hikers must feel the same way...350miles is a chunk of trail!!It was about 9 miles to Pine Swamp Branch Shelter, and because of the weather, I didn't want to stop for sit-down breaks. The only time I stopped, other than to chat with th other hikers, was when my contact got blown right off my eye! The wind came across and before I knew it, I blinked once and it fluttered away. I dug out my glasses and put them on. There was no way, in that wind that I could put in another one. Wearing glasses was okay, until I started to heat up on te uphills, then the glasses fogged so bad, I couldn't see the trail, and had to stop and find a dry place on my shirt to wipe them off. Ugh! I hate wearing glasses!When we got to the shelter, thruhiker Noll was there, along with a southbound hiker out for a week. Noll had stayed there last night, and just didn't feel like going anywhere yet. It was 12:30. Hotdog and I decided we'd go past the next shelter, which was only 4 miles away, but didn't know it we'd make the one after that, about 12 miles away. We figured we could camp about 4 miles short of there, and have an 18-plus mile day. Noll was going to shoot fo the shelter 12 miles away, but wasn't going to leave until about 2:30.Hotdog and I left, and the sun tried hard to brighten things up, but it never lasted. I took off my rain jacket because I was getting too hot and the rain had stopped...for the time. The climb up to Bailey Gap Shelter wore me out! I sat down at that shelter and wondered if I should just stay there for the night. It was around 4pm. I decided to head on and hike until 7 or so, ending up wherever I end up.As we started hiking, we made plans to camp at a designated campsite 5 miles away. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided we were too dry, and opened the skies about an hour before we'd arrive there. It rained hard. I just knew I'd be soaked, from sweat under the rain gear or from the rain. We picked up our pace drastically, but it wasn't enough. When we found a pine tree, Hotdog checked it out and said our two tents could fit there. That was it, I thought, I'm home for the night.All I wanted to do was get in my tent and be dry. The dryness will have to wait. My tent got wet setting it up. My pack is soaked on the bottom. My sleeping bag is damp. After I got the tent set up, I climbed in, in my rain gear, getting it wetter. I unloaded some stuff from my pack: clothes, book and personal paperwork, food bag. I didn't care that I was a little damp after taking off the rain gear, and I got into my sleeping bag. It was warm, and for the moment, that's all that mattered. I eventually changed my shirt, but didn't leave the bag. I had dinner in bed, to go along with the breakfast in bed this morning I guess.I'm going to sleep with my food bad in my tent too. Hopefully the bears and other critters will be kind to me.It has stopped raining now, but the wind is trying to dry the trees, making it sound like a downpour every now and then. I don't like having everything wet, yet I know tomorrow morning will be worse than this morning. I'm hoping for some sunshine, but last I heard, the forecast wasn't favorable to that. I'm lucky my heavier, synethic sleeping bag keeps its warmth when wet. I should sleep pretty good tonight. Then the fun starts all over again. I told Hotdog that if a car had been at the road we just crossed, and asked if we wanted a ride to a hotel, I probably would have said 'Yes.' He agreed. Noll said earlier that he's becoming more and more of a fair-weather hiker. I can understand that. It's not fun to be wet.But... I'm warm. I'm out of the rain right now. And the sun will come out..tomorrow...or some tomorrow anyway, and I'll look back at these wet days and say "maybe they weren't so bad after all." That's what I hope anyway.Yesterday, I was thinking about the things I took for granted in "the real world", and about the things that make me very happy now. A cold soda is like a Godsend to me, especially on a warm day. To be dry and in a dry place is not overrated at all. To be able to walk to a restaurant and get good, hot food can't be beat. Being able to talk to family and friends is so incredibly important, and yet I know now, I didn't do that often enough when I had a phone. Being able to take a shower almost any time of the day is missed by me, and I'm no vanity queen. I just love when I get a chance to take a shower, especially when I don't have to use soap to wash my hair! I feel extremely blessed to be out here, and even though today wasn't the best day I've had out here, I enjoyed it. It's part of the experience, and I'll deal with it the best I can. Not everyone gets the chance to do something like this in their lifetime. I am lucky. And even luckier to have such caring friends and family. Today, while hiking along, I suddenly almost cried, because it dawned on me how fortunate I am to have such terrific support. It just struck me as amazing for some reason.I will remember that feeling of pride in my family while I'm carrying a heavy, rain-soaked pack tomorrow. Maybe that pack won't seem so heavy anymore.