Date: 2016-05-14
From: Jenkins Shelter

To: Campsite mile 602.8
Miles today: 24.2
Weather: few clouds

Last night was a cold night. It got down to 40 degrees or a little cooler. I am not set up for the cold. I slept with all my cloths on. I have a quilt that has cinches with drawstrings on each end. I had both ends cinched shut and my whole body under the quilt with just a hole for my nose and mouth. The sides of the quilt were tucked in underneath me. I slept ok but the few times I woke up I was a bit chilly. When I woke up around 6:00am I had to get up and get moving so I could warm up. I ate quick and packed up and was leaving camp right at 7:00am. This was the earliest I had left camp and I was one of the first ones out. I was planning on at least a 23 mile hike so I was happy to be on the trail early. I knew I had an uphill to start the day so I left camp and turned up the hill. I hiked swiftly so I would warm up. It only took about ten minutes and I was feeling warm. I only had a 600 foot accent to start the day according to my guide. After a half hour I was expecting to be at the top but it kept going up. I was starting to question my guide. At 8:07am I saw a person coming down the trail towards me. As she got closer I recognized her. It was this little German women named Elizabeth who I had pasted the day before. When I realized it was her I new what I had done. I had turned the wrong way out of camp and had hiked 2 miles in the wrong direction. She asked me where I was going and I said I am going south arnt I. She said yes. Then I told her I had made a mistake and had turned the wrong way out of camp. I was frustrated, but could only laugh. I turned around and literally ran back down to the shelter that I had left a short while before. I got there at 8:40am filled up my water and headed in the correct direction. I have heard of other people making this same mistake so now I can check that off the list of things I have done. I was plenty warm now and still maintained a good morning pace. The terrain today was on the easier side so I made great time. It was a crisp cooler day with good sunshine in the morning. I stopped for lunch around 1:00pm and noticed the sky starting to darken. I checked the weather radar on my phone and there were some good showers right about to hit the area. I cut lunch short and started moving. I still had five miles to the next shelter so I was not going to make it there before the rain. I pondered putting my tent up if I found a good spot, but I never found one. As the rain begin I stopped and got out on my temporary rain gear. Leaving Damascus I had no rain gear, but when I was in Marion I picked up a couple of trash bags and a small three dollar umbrella. So I put my two trash bags on and took out my umbrella and walked while it rained. The trail followed a paved road for about a mile during this rain event so the walking was easy. As soon as the trail re entered the woods the rain stopped. I stayed perfectly dry and was pretty darn happy. It got really windy and even cooler in the later afternoon. The sun eventually came back out but the wind kept blowing hard. I caught up to Scorpion with about five miles to go to the second shelter. We hiked together for a while. We took a short break together at a road crossing and talked to several other hikers. After the short break it was about three miles to the shelter. A few miles later we went by the six hundred mile maker. I stopped and took a few pictures and Scorpion kept going. I got to the shelter around 5:30pm. It was very windy there and it is forecasted to be cold again tonight. I decided to hike another mile down to the camp area by the creek where it would be less windy. When I got there Scorpion was there along with Wolverine, Flash, and Good Talk. It was a nice small group. We all sat around the fire and made our dinners. It was nice. I am hoping I do not freeze tonight. I have all my cloths on again and it is forecasted to get down into the thirties. I am cold right now writing this. I hiked 24.2 miles officially today, but really I did 28.2 if you add in my backwards miles. I really could write a book and call it, "How not to hike the Appalachian Trail" but I am still going, still moving north.I walk for Pete