Date: 2013-05-05
From: Jones Meadows Campsites

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Yay, 300 miles completed. That is one of the few good things of note for today. Today was not one of those days that someone might say - wow, that makes me want to hike the AT.Overnight was not so bad. We didn't get the rain we thought we were going to get overnight. Sadly, we should have gotten up 30 minutes earlier. Started to rain before we got everything packed up so stopped mid-stream and went up to the trail magic for breakfast. It was rainy and windy and their tents were flapping around. But one person was making pancakes while another was scrambling eggs. The bacon was gone so they threw on hamburgers and toasted homemade bread. Hit the spot. Thanks so much again to the Greenville Hiking Club from TN. Amazing folks with amazing food. Made it so we didn't have to stop for a real meal today.Now lets say the good part ended about there. Had to go back and pack up all the wet stuff - which at this point was most everything. We had decided not to wear rain pants because if it doesn't rain too much your pants get a little wet but they have a chance to dry during the day. Now Side had put on his rain pants before going up the hill ( no easy task once you are dressed and have your boots and gaiters on). By the time we got back down from breakfast Miles' pants were wet and she had to put on her rain pants (same tricky process as above). And before you ask -no it's not at all comfortable to hike in wet pants. Once we got going it wasn't so bad. You warm up as you hike.Looking at the guide book today was supposed to be a relatively easy hiking day, elevation-wise. But we didn't read the part about the cliffs being rocky and strenuous and disregarded the comments of the trail maintainer who suggested the lower path. We saw the bad weather bypass but wanting to stay true to the trail, off we went along the ridge. Well the wind was whipping with probably 40 mph gusts. The rain was pelting us from the side. Quite exciting.Waved hi and hiked right past the Jerry Cabin shelter. Passed another gravestone. Got lost for a few minutes at the top of Big Butt Mountain because the trail wasn't marked well. Started down the wrong way and Miles had a big butt slide in the mud landing on - yep you guessed it. Now not only is she soaking wet because it rained all day but now she's a muddy mess also. Her socks have been squishing for hours and Side joined right along with the wet boots and socks deal. Passed another set of gravestones. Yes, we are starting to wonder about all these gravestonesFinally after 10.6 miles, we pulled into the shelter area and began setting up the wet tent. It wasn't raining right then so that went pretty well. But no sooner did we get it set up than it started raining again. So the wet packs got thrown in the tent vestibule on one side while the wet people stripped off all the soaking rain gear, boots and socks in the other vestibule. Now we've got two people in a tent that is exactly wide enough to hold the two of us but the air mattresses are in the backpacks and it's a little hard to inflate them when you're taking up all the floor space. The dry clothes are in the backpacks and won't even go into the changing of the clothes. Finally got curled up in sleeping bags with two big candy bars to warm up. The sun peeked out for a few minutes but that didn't last long. Went to the shelter to cook up a meal and it started raining just as we were finishing eating so back to the tent. Everything is in disarray and wet and we're still going to have to climb back out to bear bag the food. Okay, honest opinion. Ready to join us out here?Tomorrow will be better, right?