Date: 2016-07-14
From: Rice Field Shelter

To: Bailey Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Jeremy said he likes to head out early. He wasn't kidding. He was up before 6:00 and on the trail before 7:00. I enjoy lying on my sleeping bag listening to the birds for a while before getting up. I rarely hit the trail earlier than 8:30, but I was hoping to to the next shelter, 12 miles away, by lunchtime to avoid the afternoon rain, and then hike on to the next shelter after the rain. It seemed like a great plan. I ate, packed up, and hit the trail by 7:45.The beginning of the day was along the Virginia/West Virginia state line. It started out in a grassy area with no trees. After a mile and a half I hiked into the woods where I saw Elisa's and Kolbe's hammocks hanging between trees. They were not yet up, but it seemed they liked getting up late and hiking later.There was a water source on the opposite side of the trail from their hammocks. I filtered water and filled up both water bottles and headed back to the trail. After about another mile or so the trail exited the forest and entered another grassy field. It was a long, straight descent with an amazing view of two mountains straight ahead. While enjoying the view, I wasn't concentrating on the trail. I hit a patch of wet clay and found myself looking at the view from the ground. My right leg twisted so that my right foot was under me. My first thought was that this would not be a good place to sprain an angle, I took my time getting up. My hand, side, and leg were all muddy. I walked around, checking my ankle and I seemed to be okay so I hiked on down watching the view and the trail.About half an hour later I stopped for a drink of water. I reached around for the pocket of my pack that holds one of the Nalgene bottles, but there was I bottle. I double checked, thinking maybe t slipped further back in the pack. It finally dawned on me that it must have popped out of its pocket when I slipped and fell. I seriously thought about going back for it, even though it was at least 30 minutes up hill. No water was labeled on the map for 12 miles from where I had filtered water earlier. That meant I had one liter of water to last me for about 9 or 10 miles. On the other hand, if I went back, there was a good chance it slipped off onto the grass and I wouldn't find it anyway. I also thought if it was lying on the trail where I fell, Elisa or Kolbe might see it and pick it up. I decided to keep hiking north and ration my water carefully.The trail continued to descend, first in a grassy field and later back in the forest. Then it headed up another mountain and near the top I hiked along a rocky ridge with many rocky outcroppings. The forest dropped away sharply on each side of the trail.Finally I began descending again, heading to the next available water source and the shelter where I planned to eat lunch. I also started to hear thunder in the distance. The closer I got to the water source, the closer the thunder sounded. It stated to sprinkle just as I got to the stream. I knew I had to stop for water, but I was also fairly certain that by the time I finished filtering water, the storm would be here. I filled my one and only Nalgene bottle with water and headed on. The rain grew stronger. The trail paralleled the creek for a while. Soon there were two creeks, the second one was the trail. I hiked from side to side trying to keep my feet dry, but soon decided that was a waste of time and energy. I did have my umbrella to keep my upper body sort of dry, but maneuvering an umbrella through low hanging rhododendrons, also known as "laurel hells," was not an easy task. I made it to the shelter. If I had been 15 minutes sooner, I would have made it to the shelter dry.I sat in the shelter and ate lunch. The rain stopped. The sun came out. There was a bit of clearing right above the shelter; enough so that the picnic table in front of the shelter was in the sun. I took off my hiking shoes and set them on the table in the sun to dry out. It worked. At least they were "drier." I took a short bro while my shoes were drying out. I put on a dry pair of socks and almost dry shoes and headed on to the next shelter. I got there about 4:00. Jeremy was already at he shelter. He said he saw three bears early in the morning. I thanked him for clearing them out for me, and decided waiting to head out in the morning might be a good idea. They always say the first person out of camp clears the spiderwebs for everyone else, but maybe there is more to it than that.The shelter was near a wonderful stream, so I washed up and filled my water bottle. When I got back to the shelter, Elisa and Kolbe were just arriving and starting to hang their hammocks. I asked them if they happened to see a green Nalgene bottle. Elisa said they saw one as they were coming down the first mountain. I asked if they picked it up and Kolbe said no because they weren't sure whose it was. I decided I could get by with one water bottle if I planned for it. I ate set up my tent, ate supper, and crawled into bed before 9:00.