Date: 2013-10-10
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

A steady rain fell on the shelter roof all night long, and a thick fog hung all around as I lay in my bag thinking about getting up to start the day. The fog would persist the entire day. The rain would come and go much of the morning, then settle in again in earnest in early afternoon. The temp showed 44 when I got up, and showed exactly the same when I was eating a quick bagel for lunch about 1 pm, and again when I arrived at Blackrock shelter in late afternoon. The rain, fog and occasional gusty winds kept the day rather cold and raw.This kind of day requires lots of clothing adjustments. On the uphill I quickly build up heat and sweat under the rain gear if I don't open all the zippers and remove as many layers as possible. On these cold rainy days I seem to be constantly zipping up or down, changing hats or hoods, putting on gloves or taking them off, wondering if my feet will ever dry out in the next few days. On the flats and downhills I chill quickly, especially on the windward side of the ridge where I catch the full force of the driving winds. On the leeward side of the ridge, sheltered from the wind and biting fog, walking was fun! The best thing about these days however is colors of fallen leaves or the changing leaves that remain on the trees are far more vibrant than on sunny days. Fall colors seem to burst from everywhere on a foggy, wet day. On foggy days the trail consists of the 50 to 100 feet around you that can be seen through the fog. Beyond that, things get fuzzy, or really don't exist. Gnomes could be waving hello just beyond arms reach and I would walk right past them totally unaware. At one point I stopped to look up into the top of a tree from which a large branch had just fallen to the ground with a loud crash. There was little wind to explain why the branch had fallen out. Suddenly a form appeared out of the fog from the top of the tree; a bear was sliding backwards very fast down the trunk of the tree, breaking smaller branches as it hurried to get down. At about 15 feet off the ground it just bailed out, hitting the ground with a loud thump, and ran crashing through the brush off the far side of the ridge. If the bear hadn't broken the first branch high in the top of the fog-wrapped tree, I never would have known it was there. The famous views from Blackrock didn't exist, replaced by a thick fog and a hard driving rain blowing me sideways as I crossed the rock talus slope. I got to Blackrock Hut about 3 pm after trying hard not to walk too fast during the day. From here, it is 13 miles to the next shelter, and a total of 26 miles is too far for day 3 of this hike. There is no water between these 2 shelters so to camp part way between them I would have to carry a heavy load of water, enough for dinner and for tomorrow's breakfast and morning's walk. I decided to call it a relatively short day and stay at Blackrock Hut. Peering out of a dry shelter onto a cold wet rainy afternoon is a wonderful place to be!The high temp today was 45, yet the temp at dawn was 44. Winds were 5 to 10 in am, gusty and much stronger in pm. Rain on and off all morning, becoming steady and hard at times in early pm and lasting until well after dark.