Date: 2006-07-05
From: VA 606 & Trent's Grocery

To: Doc's Knob Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: light rain

Weather ¢ Cooler and rain, rain, rainWell the fireworks weren¢t quite over yet last night. Just as I crawled into my table tarp tent, a storm came through with thunder and lightening right above us. You could feel the ground shake when it thundered. I stayed dry to my surprise.This morning we dried my tarp and Frond and Azaria¢s tent in the dryer. You don¢t get a chance to do that very often. After packing up I went up to Trent¢s Grocery and entertained people with my Gee-Haw Whimsey Diddle Stick. I met Fival at the grocery eating breakfast. He is a blond headed kid, only 17 years old, headed to Pearisburg. I left ahead of Frond and Azaria at about 10:30 am. I took the blue blaze trail to see Dismal Creek Falls. It has a large pool at the base of the falls you can swim in.Shortly after getting back on the AT it started raining but not too bad. But as I reached the lake just before Wapiti Shelter, it started to rain again but harder this time. I am glad I made it to the shelter before the bottom dropped. About 20 minutes later Frond and Azaria came in soaking wet. This was about 2:30 pm and a good time to eat lunch. The rain continued until about 3:30 pm and it looked like it was going to clear up so we took off towards Woodshole Hostel with about 7 miles to go. As we were going up Sugar Run Mountain we were hit by another thunderstorm. The rain came down so hard the trail was nothing but a stream of running water or puddles. You had no choice but to trudge thru the water stepping in puddles up to 4 to 5 inches deep at times. There was not a dry spot on me and my socks and shoes were soaked. It was dark and loud in the woods. When the rain hits the leaves you would be surprised at how loud it gets. Frond and Azaria kept looking back to make sure I was alright. Like two little kids checking on their dad. Their kindness is appreciated.As we came to the top of the mountain, I didn¢t think it could rain any harder but it did for about another 30 minutes. When it is raining and you are soaking wet it is amazing how fast you can hike. All you think about is getting to someplace dry. The rain stopped but disappointment came as we reached Sugar Rum Road that leads to Woodshole Hostel. There was a sign saying the Woodshole Hostel was closed for a family reunion. That meant we had about 2 14 miles to hike to Doc¢s Knob Shelter and dryness. It was 7:00 pm as we started out again and the rain came again but not as hard. I told Frond and Azaria to go ahead that I would be okay, knowing that they could get there sooner. It was 8:07 pm when I reached Doc¢s Knob Shelter. Boy! A dry shelter on a rainy day is an oasis. Along with Frond and Azaria, Fival was there and so was Salamander. She is in her early 20¢s and hiking south. You don¢t know how to appreciate dry warm clothes until you have hiked in the rain all day long. I was so tired I just laid on my stomach and ate my beef jerky, crackers and canned soup cold. It was getting colder and I am glad I still have a long sleeve shirt and long zip out pants to put on. I rubbed my feet down with BioFreeze because they were hurting so bad. My feet and hands were all wrinkled like when you go swimming and stay in the water too long. A day like today can drive a lot of hikers to quit their thru hike, but my spirits are up. I am in a dry warm sleeping bag with rain hitting the shelter roof. Sleep will come easy tonight. Not even the mice will keep me awake.