Date: 2004-04-12
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: moderate rain

We really hiked 15 miles once you count the half mile to the shelter and the round trip mile to the restrooms at Clingmans Dome parking lot.My sleep last night was cozy even when the mouse chewing my hair woke me and I had to brush it away. We spent the night in a caged shelter unlike the previous establishment. We had ten people crammed on two platforms but I believe the snoring was at a minimum.Today it rained and everything got wet. Such a simple sentence, yet short on providing the intensity of the situation. Shall I say all my clothes are clammy and sticky and cold? I have everything that I wore today in my sleeping bag with me so that it may dry by tomorrow and I'll have a second set again.The hiking was easier for the most part except for the downpour. The first five miles were like walking through a car wash, sans heated driers. Plenty of wind, though, to point the rain under your shirts and jackets. The trickling sound promotes bladder efficiency but you don't want to stop. Pellets of rain resonate against the hood of your raingear making any conversation inaudible. However, you can guess someone is asking where the next shelter is and someone else is yelling, "What?" because they can't hear over the downpour and wind as well.Thankfully the next shelter was five miles north. Silly me, I didn't put rain pants on so my convertables were soaked through. After changing and eating a quick snack, the next five miles to Clingmans Dome were more bearable...except for the last mile.Catdog and I were about twenty feet apart struggling up the wet path, which was now a fantastic water source, bracing ourselves against each wind gust with the hope that the observation tower would offer a nice refuge for lunch. However, we bumped into Saltlick who informed us this was not the case.I never saw the observation tower. Visibility was zero and it was white twenty feet in all directions. Regardless, tourists dressed in shorts were making their way up the tower road. They told us that it is sunny and hot in town. Couldn't believe it.Cat, Saltlick, and I made our way to the restrooms since that was the only possible shelter from the rain for some lunch. Because the ladies room was spacious, offered a reasonable water source, and was out of the nasty wind, Cat suggested cooking something. Good idea. I made some mac & cheese and hot chocolate.Women kept entering the restroom remarking on the smell of food. One woman told us she was hiking the highpoints of the southern states with her eighty-three year old Dad, who has also contributed trail maintenance to the AT. When she mentioned visiting Florida, Cat asked how there could be a high point in Florida when it is flat. The lady admitted it was only 280 feet.After lunch, we had just four miles to go before finding the shelter, but first had to climb the driveway back to the trail. My socks and boots were soaked through already and my fleece beneath my raingear was soggy from condensation. As long as I was moving, I was okay. But I wasn't sure what clothes I had left to change into when I got to Mt Collins Shelter.Negotiating the muddy slick path, now a stream, up the AT got annoying at times. I would expertly avoid a deep puddle by hopping rocks only to step on what I thought was a bank and sink ankle deep into mush. I could feel the cold of the water seeping into my socks.Well, I made it to the shelter and found some dry clothes for the night. Tomorrow is another day. We couldn't build a fire because the limbs are all wet so we are nestled in our sleeping bags. The shelter is ours, just Palmtree, Catdog, Saltlick (providing endless amusement as always) and me.Someone left a gallon container of white gas here and Saltlick used it to start a fire in the fireplace. Need I say more? The attempt ended in failure and I think he lost his eyebrows in the process.