Date: 2017-08-20
From: Liberty Spring Trailhead

To: Garfield Ridge Shelter 
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: light rain

8/20Garfield Ridge Shelter - started from Liberty Spring Trailhead10.3 milesI have seldom been so happy to get below treeline. I woke up a little before six and checked the clock. With JD wrapped around me in a safe warm bed, it was hard to get up. But I knew it would be a long, hard day. I got up to check the weather. The forecast hadn't changed much. Clouds clearing around noon, and wind gusts up to 25 mph. Good enough. I ate my poptarts and took my pills and I was ready to go. JD drove me to the Liberty Spring trailhead and kissed me. Then I was back on the trail. It was about a mile to the AT, mileage which didn't count in my total. Once I reached the AT, it climbed steeply for miles. My stomach started feeling sketchy. I got water at Liberty Spring, while my stomach cramped and I had cold chills. I visited the privy, my last chance for miles. I figured I was just freaking out because the last time I was here, I came down with an illness that was both awful and affected my life for years after. I continued uphill. As soon as I reached treeline, my intestines became a secondary consideration. The forecast was wrong. It was socked in and violently windy. It was worse than any wind I've ever experienced while hiking, including on Mt Washington and Cat Bell. On Mt Washington I had 70 mph wind gusts and had to brace myself. Today my poles flew horizontal if I didn't jam them into the ground, and several times I had to stop and crouch down or be blown away. Once I stepped on a loose rock and the wind took me the rest of the way down as my toes painfully went out of joint. I was in survival mode. I wasn't concerned with cold, hunger, or thirst. Just staying upright until I could get to safety. The wind continued at that level all the way to the end of the ridge, until I finally reached the protection of the trees. I never would have come up here today if I had known. The caretaker at this shelter says the forecast was for 60mph gusts. I'm pretty sure it went higher than that. Once I got to the woods, life went back to normal. My guts, thank goodness, were quiet. The trail was pretty normal for the Whites - steep and tricky. However southern Maine changed my perspective. Today felt relatively easy except for the wind. I wasn't particularly tired when I got to the shelter. If I'd had signal I might have texted JD to change plans and meet me tonight, but I didn't. So I will stay in the shelter as planned and hike the rest of the way tomorrow. At the shelter I met several nice hikers. There is actually a crowd and I didn't get all the names. Joy Hiker and SOL, Family Man, Genaro (and his sons). I'm kind of glad I'm spending the night here and meeting these folks. Not that I'm likely to ever see them again. Oh, and that forecast? Said the low tonight for the shelter would be 58. The caretaker's forecast says 40s. I believe his forecast. I think my setup will be fine, though. I'm glad I still have my silk liner and down jacket. I think I'll be using toilet paper to stuff my pillow again, with all my clothes called into use as insulation.   Tomorrow: two more miles of AT, then I'm heading out the Gale River Trail to meet my sweetie again and go the heck home for a couple of weeks. I need to go soak up some dog love from Beauty and Dulce, and I need to cuddle my cat Andy. Also I have a long list of tasks to take care of - resupply, permethrin treatments, that sort of thing. But mostly it's about soaking up the love.