Date: 2003-03-17
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

Happy Saint Patricks Day!Broke camp and got on the trail by 7.45AM. It started to rain shortly thereafter and rained all day long. At first it was a soft "Irish" rain, just the thing to make the plants grow, but as the day passed it turned into a real hard downpour. I put on all the rain gear and the pack cover and trudged on in the wet. Wet and muddy. I wore the silk top to the underwear under the rain jacket. I got soaked tru from sweating, but did not care as long as I was warm. It's not being wet thats the problem, it's getting cold. After all we all enjoy hot showers. I did not wear the silk underpants, just the rain pants. Worked well, but everything was wet and muddy by days end. While hiking I figured out the following sequence for bad , wet, cold weather. When you arrive at the end of your days hiking the first thing to do is to establish a shelter, stay in your wet gear while you do this but do it quickly. Once you have a shelter established then enter it and change into your dry gear. If need be, get into your sleeping bag. Then cook a hot meal and eat. Oh yea, before you get into the shelter and change gear get water from the water source. Get enough water to last for your evening meal and your breakfast and enough to fill your water bottles for the next day. For me this is 4-6 liters. Then when you are in your sleeping bag warm and dry and well fed there is no need to get out again untill you are ready to hike on the following morning. Then you put your old wet gear back on, and keep your dry gear in the pack.Journey, a realy nice lady that I met with at A.F Lodge, left before me and everyone else left later. All but one passed me. I did catch up with a young couple. He seemed to be having considerable difficulties with the ascents and she was staying with him. Then I caught up with Journey who had been led off on a side trail by another hiker and had hiked some distance before she noted the lack of blazes. This is much more easy to do than you would think. As you hike you get into a rhythm and you enter into a sort of a daydream state where your mind wanders onto the most remarkable thoughts. This altered mind stste is one of the things that I enjoy most about hiking, but it sure is easy to wander off due to lack of attention.The shelter of course was full- one of the prices that you pay for being a Slow Walker. It sleeps 6 and there are 14 of us here. Camped again in the rain. The rain is rattling on the tent as I write this. They have taken the table out of the shelter to allow some more people to sleep on the ground out of the rain. A bunch of people are sitting up and chatting and playing cards. I prefer the early night in the tent. The tent,and especialy the vestibule, is working out great so far.I feel great - no aches or pains-Just that all the rain gear is now wet and muddy , and the tent will be too in the AM when I pack it.So far so good . I realy am the slowest walker in the group but I seem to be able to maintain a slow constant pace. Only the jail guard- now call Yo-YO- who left Stovers Creek at the break of day is significantly faster than all of us.Plan to hike to Neels Gap in the AM and resupply. Will plan on staying there tomorrow night- although not a scheduled stop.Will have a tough climb over Blood Mountain in the AM. Almost 12 miles today.