Date: 2012-04-26
To: Thomas Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

Last night some really strong thunder storms went through the area and I was really happy to be back in town and not in my tent. We got up, packed up our gear and headed to the post office to mail some gear home and one bounce box ahead. While we were in the post office, it started to storm once again and I did not have my rain coat with me so I got wet even before we got on the trail. Once we were back at the hostel, we cleaned up our room a bit and headed up the road to get a shuttle back up to the trail. We could not get a ride from Wolf this time because he had to work so we got a shuttle from one of the bike places in town. They normally don't give shuttles to hikers but because they had no business and because we were already wet they said they would give us a ride. We had to wait for a little while until they could take us so we did not get on the trail until 11:30am. By then the rain had stopped but it was foggy and water was dripping off the trees enough to make us a little wet. The first part of today was all up hill to the top of Whitetop Mountain, at the top was a long bald. Of course it was foggy out so we had no view plus the wind was really blowing up on top. It was blowing so hard that it blew Slims birthday balloon off of his pack and it disappeared into the fog. A few times it would blow so hard it blew us off to the side of the trail. Soon we headded back down into the trees and the wind was not as bad. We came up on a camp site and found that Medicine Man, Sling Shot and Frenchy were still in their tents from last night. They said that the storm from last night was terrible and all of the gear had gotten wet. They did not want to hike in the wind and rain with wet cloths so I guess they stayed in their tent all day because its 8:15pm and they are still not here. We talked to them for awhile then continued on down into Deep Gap. About 100 yards down the trail, the wind was completely blocked by the mountain so it got a little warmer. Once down in the gap, we crossed a paved road, crossed through some feilds then started up Mt. Rodgers. The trail soon became a flowing river from all the rain last night. Water was coming out of the ground everywhere and the rocks were all wet and slippery so we were going really slow. There were sections of trail that was nothing but a water fall and we had to just walk straight up it. By then there was nothing we could do to keep our boots and feet dry so we just walked right through it. After walking in water for five miles, we finally got to the shelter. We had planned on continuing on to the next shelter but becuase of our late start and the insane terrain we decided to stay here. The top level of the shelter had four people in it so we took three spots up there. Runner was also up in the top level and we ate our supper up there to keep out of the wind. It did not take long until we were all in our bags trying to keep warm. The wind is still blowing up on Mt. Rodgers, the shelter shakes alot and there is a little bit of a draft but at least we are out of the rain and fog. It might be hard to sleep with the wind and rain pounding the tin roof right above me but I have my ear plugs if I need them...night all.