Date: 2015-07-14
From: stealth sit above little gap

To: Wind Gap
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I slept like a dream last night. I love my doctor. Hopefully a couple of nights of good sleep with reset my rhythms and I won't need any help getting to sleep. You never realize how important sleep is until you don't get it.When we emerged from the tents, the skies were dark and threatening. D.No asked me to check the weather. I looked at my weather icon and it said sunny and 75 for most of the day. That didn't seem right. But that is what my phone always says. D.No noticed it said Cupertino on the page. Well, I'm not computer savvy and I had no idea what Cupertino was but I now know that my weather icon defaults to Cupertino CA, home of Apple HQ. Thanks Apple! I need to know your weather first up here in the mountains! I have been giving anyone who has asked that same bogus forecast since springer mountain. I just thought the Appalachia produced the worst weather forecasters in the country. We have had lots of sunny 75 degree days though.... Apparently that is the weather every day in Cupertino.We hiked out and the rain started immediately. It came down hard, but no lightning. I felt energetic and got ahead of D.No and C.Shell. There is something almost magical about being alone in the woods in the rain. Every sense is heightened. Small creatures come out to be in the wet weather, like salamanders and frogs. Footsteps are muffled, raindrops make a million different sounds depending on what they land on. Sharp splats on rocks, soft thunks on rotted logs, gentle patter on the leafy ground cover. It is an orchestra of earthy tones.The first 7 miles were easy and smooth. Again I wondered why people were so upset about rocks. It was easy, smooth, and I felt as though I could easily do a marathon hike today. Almost immediately after having that thought, the path became a rock field. Not the big boulder fields that we climb through, but grapefruit to basketball sized rocks. It went on for a bit, then the rocks let up a little and the path shown above was the norm and as good as it got all the way to Wind Gap, some areas more rocky, but never smooth again. If you have any weaknesses in your feet or ankles, this sort of terrain will expose them and exploit them. My twisted ankle re-twisted several times. Because it was raining, the rocks were slippery as well, and my wet socks rubbed and created blisters on my heels. Damn. I hate that! I powered on though, and took a lunch break at a road crossing. It was misty and spooky and horror story perfection! D.No and c.Shell caught up to me there and she said she expected vampires to come out of the mist, gliding to us with capes billowing behind them. He just said the vampire part, I actually added the capes just now so I can scare myself as I type this in the dark..Gah!After lunch (two tuna packs, Katwalks strawberry/rhubarb leather, about 10 Lady Fingers, a rice crispy treat, and a few handfuls of nuts) I hiked out again. The rain had stopped and the mist was burning off. The path stayed rocky. We had decided to go in to Wind Gap for water and a meal, then hike another 5 for a 20 mile day. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that Kevin, the guy who slack packed us through the big climb, returned our packs with a full supply of water. That was fantastic! The water is scarce on this section of the trail. Thank you Kevin!When I decended in to Wind Gap, my feet were hurting. I was waiting at the bottom of the path by the road, writing a note to my partners that I was going to the Beer Stein, when they showed up. The Beer Stein is a hiker friendly tavern that allows camping in the back. But we saw a sign saying that they no longer allow camping. Wonder what the story is. I hope it isn't more of the same- the party bubble ahead of us. When we party, we drink a beer, maybe two, then fall asleep watching Seinfeld reruns in an open mouth snore, drooling on our pillows. Try it party bubble! It's fun and you won't get in trouble!The rain started coming down, very hard, as we walked into town. C.Shell and I walked quickly, D.No hobbled behind us, yelling at us to put our thumbs out. We ignored him. But- he actually got us a ride. A hiker known as Eagle Eye Rob pulled over in his big conversion van and gave us a ride to McDonalds. We were so happy and ate our favorite trail food- Big Macs, burgers, shakes. Why do we love it so much? We never eat it in our real lives. We chose it over the Beer Stein. Next we went next door to do laundry and dry our socks. Somehow D.No got someone to drive out and buy a 6 pack for us. Then we got a ride to the Red Carpet Motel. Storm as are expected all night. Our feet look like swollen hams. D.No said it feels like they have been beaten with rubber hoses. C.Shell and I agree. We are all hobbling!