Date: 2005-05-10
From: campsite, north of starting point of Elk Garden

To: Hurricane Shelter
Miles today: 8.5

Started @ campsiteDestination: Hurricane ShelterMiles today 8.5Total Miles: 504.6Day 60Hotflash and I were up early. I left at 7:30am and she left just before that. She mentioned that one night at a campsite, there had been a deer snorting but she had not heard it; but another hiker said that that was the deer's way of letting other deer know that there were humans in the area. That makes sense, too. Another sound that we heard last night and this morning was an owl--but I don't know what kind it was. The trail today was not as rocky as yesterday but they were there, along with the roots. I forgot to mention that I did another face plant yesterday when I took my eyes off the trail and I tripped on a rock. It took a few minutes for me to get myself upright--I had my left arm bent at the elbow and my left hand was up by my shoulder. Everything moved ok but this morning my left hand felt a little stiff. No swelling, though. The trail from Old Orchard Shelter, where I stopped for a mid-morning snack (actually a late breakfast) was nice and fairly smooth for a mile and a half. The next mile and a half was all uphill and I thought I had missed this shelter, which is a brand new one, built either last year or this year. It even smells new. Anyway, since I thought I had missed it I stopped at a campsite and sat down to look at what options I had. I really did not have any other option than to keep hiking until I came to a campsite. The next shelter was too far away and I did not want to get off at Troutdale like a few others to go to a hostel. It was early in the afternoon still so I decided I had plenty of time to find a spot. The place where I stopped to look over the options was a great place to camp but it was too soon to stop. As soon as I got back on the trail and rounded a corner I saw the sign for this shelter. So I came up here and decided to stay. It was thundering in the distance but everyone else that was here was planning to hike further--most of them going to the hostel, which is located on a road over 6 miles from here. Soon after they all left it stormed with lots of lightening and thunder. An hour later it had moved on. I hope they did not get too wet.The elevation here is over 4000 feet and the air is a bit cooler than yesterday and it has been more overcast today. Not a bad day for hiking. Linda gave me some no-bake oatmeal cookies before I left her house yesterday. I only had room to put a couple of baggies in my pack. Since Sunday morning I have been waking up with a headache and they kind of feel like migraines. Yesterday and today I took medicine for it and it helped. Hotflash asked if I had eaten anything different. After thinking about it the Texas sheet cake and chocolate no-bake cookies were the only things different--lots of concentrated chocolate--so I gave a package to Tree Trunks and a package to Hopeful (not the Hopeful Hiker I have mentioned before) and her husband, Red Wing. Tree Trunks then shared his with Snowbunny and Hairball when they arrived at the shelter. They said to thank Linda for them, so thank you, Linda. An early arrival after the others left was Randy, an older man that is out here for only 1 week of hiking. He comes out every year for a week and this week he will end his hike in Damascus for Trail Days. He got in just minutes before the storm started.   We were the only ones here until others started coming in a couple of hours later--Tank and Willow, Snowman and Sparkplug (not to be mistaken for our Snowman from S. Wales), Stilts, another couple--I did not get their names, and a hiker with a dog. So the shelter was full with 10 people and one person on the picnic table, and one under one end of the table. Since I was here early in the afternoon I was able to get some e-mails composed, a crossword puzzle worked, and work done on this journal. I am getting sleepy now and people are still up and about talking. My eyes are getting heavy and I think I'll just close them and try to sleep. Good night.