Date: 2014-06-11
From: Calf Mountain Shelter

To: Loft Mtn. Campground
Miles today: 19.7

It's past midnight. Think I got 7 hours of sleep so far but I'm looking to do some unorthodox night hiking. Just biding my time right now since I'm not sure what the sky looks like. I have my tent fly open so I can see some moonlight spilling down through the trees but seems like there could be some stormy action brewing it's way over. Might as well do a little journaling! Someone camped right next to me (must have gotten to camp after 6pm yesterday when I was already asleep) has one of those inflatable sleeping pads that sounds like a clown wearing a rubber suit is swimming through a rooms packed with inflated balloons. Obviously this person is not getting any sleep because they keep tossing and turning making the sound of a clown pretend drowning in a sea of nonsense. I'm trying not to laugh out loud since I already got my sleep and can't help but listen to the debacle.Now it's 1:00am and thunder is building up overhead. The woods are getting a lot darker now that the moonlight is getting blocked. This may change my plans...1:30am. Yep that's a storm. I laid back and did some meditation in the dark than opened my eyes to enjoy the lightning show that danced across my tent through the darkness. Guess this means staying put, do a little book reading and catch some more zzz's.Didn't wake up again until 5 or 6. This may be the longest time I have been in a tent! Made Voodoo jealous with how much rest I got as I joined the people in the shelter to make breakfast. People were wondering who had a headlamp on for an hour in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm haha. By 7am Voodoo and I were leap frogging each other back on the trail since we were the first to leave. At some point I stopped to have a snack break which is where Southbounder eventually cruised by when I was about to get a move on again. 30 seconds later up the trail I come around a bend to see Voodoo's pack on the ground. Then I basically ran into Voodoo and Southbounder standing there scratching their heads. This stretch of the trail was very narrow and tunnel-like with thick bushes and trees squeezing you in. Voodoo had been stuck here for 25 minutes with a pissed off rattlesnake blocking the only way. Ain't nobody got time fo dat! My insta-solution was to just move the dam thing. Our options were limited considering how you could only go back or forward so I took out my tarp and threw it over the snake and pushed the whole thing off to the side with my trekking poles. Only took a minute but traffic was starting to get backed up as Cannon [and] Balls arrived and couldn't even see around Voodoo and Southbounder to find out what the commotion is about. So I just left the tarp on the snake and let everyone pass before I burrito wrapped the thing and flung it out deeper into the woods - keeping my tarp of course. Continued on my way only to come across a young black bear sitting right next to the trail in silence without a trace of shyness. What the hell? I was only 2 minutes behind the 4 hikers now in front of me, was he there the whole time? He was a little hidden by the brush and only his head and shoulders were sticking out around a tree when you're walking up. So if you're looking down at your feet while hiking you would have easily missed the dancing bear in the woods even though this one you could poke with your trekking pole from the trail. I yelled at it, clapped my trekking poles, and bounced rocks off its head but it only slowly budged 5 yards farther away from the trail so I said screw it and carried on. Except my trekking pole gave out and bent in a way it's not supposed to bend. Like how it's not supposed to bend at all? Poop. There was a concave in the middle of it and it splintered under pressure. Basically it broke. I have carbon fiber poles so now one was useless. Don't clap your carbon fiber trekking poles folks. Although mine may be a little defective. My metal tips managed to disappear one day leaving me with blunt ends. Meanwhile Voodoo has the exact same trekking poles and claps them together all the time but they still look like they're brand new. Whatever. I caught up to everyone that passed me and none of them were aware they walked right past a bear. I figure that's why a lot of people don't seem to ever encounter a lot of wildlife. They make too much noise and they don't have their heads up. The only animals they see are the ones they hear first. Unfortunately not every animal will make a noise when you go near them. They tend to be still and stay quiet.Anyways. More storms were obviously coming tonight. Hustled my way to the nearest place I could pitch a tent when the skies suddenly darkened. Had to wait a bit before pitching a tent because a quick shower came down. So I tossed my pack in bear locker (I made it to a national park campground which means amenities!) and looked for the campstore for some quick calories. By the time I got back to my campsite the sun and blue skies were back out. Didn't delay in getting ready for the night and even managed to have dinner before the dark rumbling skies returned by 7pm. Let's say I'm glad I got into my tent because this storm came fast and fierce. The wind came on so strong I wished I had stomped my stakes down farther and cinched my tent straps more just in case. My tent was basically getting kicked around and then torrential amounts of rain came down like buckets. I know some people are still out hiking. That really sucks. Same to those with leaky tents or who did a lazy job setting up. Stay dry my friends.