Date: 2007-07-18
From: Lost Pond Shelter

To: Minerva Hinchey Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

Let the rain begin.It was raining when I woke up this morning. I looked around and saw trees through the screen. Oh no! I must have left the vestibule open. I grabbed my head lamp and sat up. I shined the lamp at the door and found it was closed. I must have just seen my hair hanging down over my eyes. Oh well, no rush to get up since its raining. I went back to sleep. I kept waking up to rain and going back to sleep for a couple hours. Then I woke up and just lay in my tent contemplating packing up in the rain. I got up and lowered my food bag out of a nearby tree, then returned to my tent to eat my poptarts and oatmeal bars. By 10:00 I had finally resigned myself to hiking in the rain and packed up my gear. I was wearing my new poncho. This would keep the rain off me and my pack and allow air to circulate better than my rain jacket. This should keep me drier. The poncho was working for the first few miles and I thought it was great. Then I had climb a hill and my poncho quickly turned into my own personal sauna. I kept the poncho on for a while telling myself it would be alright until I felt sweat running down my chest and back. I removed the poncho and decided to go back to the get wet method. I passed some nice swimming areas along the trail today, but I was pretty much swimming up the trail anyway, so I didn't stop. Sometimes it would rain hard and other times it would sprinkle, but it always rained. I had one bright point on this rainy day. My feet were dry and comfortable in my Lowa Renegade GTX boots. I reached Greenwall Shelter around 4:00 and considered stopping for the day. I had planned to go farther, but I had started late and been walking in rain for 6 hours. After a few moments, I decided to move on to the next shelter 5.1 miles further.I stopped to take a break in the parking lot at the trail head near Hwy VT140. When I resumed my hike going up Bear Mtn, I noticed my feet were no longer dry. I don't remember stepping in any especially deep puddles to cause this. I think they just surrendered to the elements. The next three miles up Bear Mtn were steep and not very enjoyable. After crossing the top of the Bear Mtn I reached Minerva Hinchey Shelter. I was worn out after eight and a half hours in the rain. The rain stopped a few minutes before I reached the shelter. Bugbite, Gadget, and Mr. Wiffle were already warm and dry inside. I was just glad to be out of the rain. I changed into some dry clothes and hung up my wet stuff. I cooked some Lipton noodles with some green beans for dinner. Mr. Wiffle is the second south bound thru-hiker that I have met. (I met Chile yesterday.) We talked to Mr. Wiffle about the trail north of here. He said it rained 12 of the 14 days he was in New Hampshire and the White Mountains were miserably wet and cold. He said he was in the clouds the whole time. This is not the image I had in mind for the whites. I want clear blue skies and tremendous views. Then he talked about the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine. He said he had to ford a river that was waist deep and many that were knee deep. Lots to look forward to.AAA showed up later. I haven't seen him since Virginia. I read a couple chapters in my book and then went to sleep.