Date: 2003-05-15
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Cornelius Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

It was an interesting night last night. The carpenter bees were gnawing on the shelter all night long, deer were all around the shelter, the moon was as bright as a porch light, and both of my sheltermates, Hotdog and Mountain Break, were dueling chainsaws. I wanted to listen to the deer, but block out the snoring, but that was impossible. I put in the earplugs. For the first time, I was bothered by mosquitos, along with the usual gnats and other little biting bugs. Since it was warm last night, I slept in my silk liner, with only my feet in my sleeping bag. I also pulled the liner over my head for bug protection. With all that, I slept pretty well.This morning's hike was mostly downhill to Jennings Creek, a good swimming hole. I didn't swim though...the sun wasn't warming things up enough for me to brave that cold water! After that, there was a long climb to one of the largest shelters on the trail, Bryant Ridge Shelter. It was a very nice shelter, and had three sleeping levels, plus a large covered deck. I also visited the privy, out of necessity, and looked in the "mouseproof toilet paper holder". It's a mailbox, and I always look in to see if there's any TP in them--there never is. But in this one, there was something more interesting: a Privy Log! Of course I spent time reading all the entries in it, and entering my own. Quite a unique idea!While at the shelter, Scotland, Spot, and High Octane stopped by for a break, then moved on. April Showers was there waiting for Mountain Break to show up, and we knew he was right behind us. Hotdog and I had lunch there, and took a long break, knowing we only had 5 more miles to go for the day. Mountain Break was planning on staying at Bryant Ridge Shelter, but April Showers, Hotdog and I talked him into coming to this shelter. After all, we argued, that would get 2000 feet of climb out of the way, to make tomorrow easier. He agreed, and we all headed out, just before 1pm.Hmmm... maybe Mountain Break had the right idea in wanting to stay at the last shelter, because within a mile after leaving, I was scrambling to put my pack cover on my pack and my rain jacket on myself as the raindrops started to fall. It rained steadily for about 10 minutes, then lightly after that for a long time. I was sweating in my jacket, but didn't want to be cold and wet, so I left it on. About a half mile from the shelter (in hindsight I knew it was about half mile, but at the time I had no clue how close I was to the shelter), it started raining harder again, and I picked up the pace. The lightning and thunder were getting closer, and I just wanted to be in a shelter when it came really close. Before I knew it, I saw a sign for the shelter path, and I made it before the lightning came. Actually, we only had a couple of close strikes.At the shelter, Scotland, Spot, thruhikers, and Jason and Victoria, section-hikers from Ireland were taking refuge. When the rain lightened and the thunder ceased, they all moved on, leaving only Hotdog, Mountain Break, April Showers and I to take over the shelter. We had two other section hikers stop by, but they decided to go the 3 miles to their car and get dry and warm there. They also suggested that they might be able to leave us some Trail Magic up ahead. How cool!!The rain has stopped now, but a dampness remains. I'm fairly dry, since I changed into dry clothes, except for my shorts. I'll wear my shorts to bed and put my shirt and socks in my sleeping bag and they should all be dry by morning. A convenience of a synthetic bag!Tonight, there's a lunar eclipse, and it didn't look good with the cloud cover earlier, but I can see the moon shining brightly in the sky right now. Now I don't know if I can stay awake until the eclipse begins!!I'll try to stay awake. April Showers and I are gabbing, while the guys tune up their chainsaws. Hopefully we don't keep them up. Although I'm sure they'll give us payback later!They've been fun to be around these last few days, but I probably won't see them again, at least for a while. They are considering a section hike in Vermont in July, so maybe I'll get to see them then. We'll exchange email addresses just in case that doesn't work out.Hmmm.... the trees are blocking my view of the moon. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a bit and hope I wake up sometime before midnight. (Yawn)