Date: 2009-04-10
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

The shelter was full with 7 thru-hikers and several section hikers. For the first time on this trip, I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! My space in the shelter was on the lower berth, behind the block to reach the second level, and I had to wiggle and contort myself like a worm to get in and out of that spot! But I did it well! I was one of the first to get up when it was light out, and was asked by a section hiker (who thru-hiked in '91) if I needed more food. I told him I had plenty. He wanted to know if Truckin' needed any, as she was still in her sleeping bag. She later declined, as well, but then, he pulled out a bag of Easter M&Ms and gave them to her! If I had known that was the food he was talking about, I would have gladly accepted! (I later asked Truckin' if I could have a few!). I cooked some oatmeal and granola, tried to sterilize my water (I'm not loving this steripen.. the red light comes on too often!) and started to pack up. Truckin' and El Hombre got out at 8:00. It took me until 8:40 to leave. Thunderstorms and rain were forecasted for the day, and right before I stepped out, the sky turned dark and drops began to fall. Minutes later, as I began my walk, the thunder and lightening began. I was above 6000 feet, but was not bothered. I guess if I saw the lightening hit, or felt too scared, I could have scrambled down into the trees, but there was too much snow in the woods, and I did not feel unsafe. The trail was a mess, though, which made for a difficult morning in the rain! It was a river (with a rapid current at times) and I spent a lot of the morning on the slippery, snow-covered, narrow banks above the trail, or stepping with one foot on either side. Most of the the thru-hikers said they wanted to get to Davenport Gap Shelter that night, but I think we all secretly hoped to make it to Standing Bear Hostel, which was 18.1 miles away. The conditions were not favoring us reaching this destination, however. I came upon 'Rattler' who had paused to figure out how to get around a fallen tree (over or under?). I knelt down and tried to go under, but my pack got stuck, so I had to flatten out some more! We were drenched already, so it really didn't matter! He finally said he would have to let go of his dignity and crawled under as well...    We had 8 miles to travel to get to the first shelter, where we could take our first break, and this distance seemed too long in the conditions we had. The thought of hiking 18 miles like this, did not help. As all of my layers became soaked, I started getting colder and colder, and my hands became red and numb. My new waterproof mitts were in my pack, and I dug them out, only to find that they were still clipped together. I could not undo the clip for the life of me! Things were getting serious... I was uncomfortably cold, still a long ways away from the shelter, and all alone. I decided to put one mitt on, and try to put my wet fleece glove on my other hand, and then switch them (if the inside of the other mitt did not get soaked in the meantime). Luckily, it wasn't long before Bound and JJ approached, and Bound helped me undo the clip! I was very fortunate! Then, around 11 am, the rain finally stopped and the sun came out! Although the trail was still a mess, everything felt much better!   Just as I approached the sidepath to the shelter, I saw Truckin's orange pack cover! Truckin'! She and El Hombre were just taking off after their lunch break, and I decided to bypass the shelter and go with them. "Are you guys going to Standing Bear?" I asked. They said, "Yes!". So I said, "Let's go!"   It was a lot of fun to hike with them. They both have great attitudes and love to chat and sing, and it was such a treat for me to hike with them instead of on my own, as I have done for much of this hike! I got hot and hungry on an uphill, so I decided to stop for a break and told them I would catch up. That took a couple of hours...! But it was great to be reunited with them again, and I lead them on to Standing Bear (El Hombre was having knee pain and was struggling. He wasn't sure if he could or wanted to hike 3.3 more miles after we got to Davenport Gap Shelter). But he thought about it, and decided to press on! I gave him some turkey jerky and some ibruprofen to help him along (since he hadn't taken any since the morning). We came out of the woods, walked over a bridge, and then headed across the highway (fun!). Then, it was back into the woods for a steep uphill 0.4 mile stretch. By the time we saw the painted Standing Bear sign on a rock, we were relieved and happy, and struggled to climb the 0.1 miles to the farm... El Hombre thought of pizza the whole time to get him there. I saw Skip and then several other thru-hikers hanging outside, but we were told the hostel was full! Curtis, the owner said he could give us a couple of options: the chicken coop or barn loft...    We accepted the chicken coop accomodations, took showers, and joined the other hikers in the kitchen/dining room. I was fading fast as I was tired, dehydrated, and hungry... and I wasn't feeling the most comfortable around a lot of new hikers... But I was asked to join in on a game of Hearts with Spaceman, Chance, and Truckin', and as the evening progressed, I began having more and more fun...And then, I was christened with a trailname!          I'm going to hold off on the trailname story, because some people might be somewhat offended...It's not really my name, but it was amusing to be called this for a little while...I lead Truckin' and El Hombre back to the chicken coop for the night, as I was the only one to remember my headlamp. (They wanted to call me "guide" but it turned into something else in a matter of minutes... something that just can't be topped!)