Date: 2004-04-26
From: Licklog Gap

To: Nantahala River (Nantahala Outdoor Center - NOC)
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

What is this liquid stuff falling from the sky? It started raining at dusk and rained all night, with thunder and lightning at times. The inside of my green tarp lit up like neon when a bolt would fly. This is the first rain of the hike - an incredible streak of luck. I set up my tarp with the back end pinned closely to the ground to stop the wind and blowing rain. Big mistake - the tarp was watertight, but the lack of ventilation caused the moisture in the tent (mostly from breathing) to condense on the under side of the tarp, and every big drop from the tree above sent a fine spray of the condensation downward. By morning, everything under the tarp was slightly damp. And of course anything that touched the wet ground was covered with leaf litter and the finely ground dirt of the campsite. Not especially the way you want to start your day! But you must be philosophical about what the trail brings - you certainly can't change the weather. I packed under the tarp out of the rain, then stuffed the wet tarp into an outside pocket of the pack and slogged away. Being slightly depressed from the foot traffic, the AT had become a puddle for long stretches, and sometimes a stream. My cross-trainer shoes worked pretty well, though. The water ran in, the water ran out.Dave left before me, and I hiked alone and saw no one else until mid-afternoon. No views to be had either. There are interesting layers of noises when hiking in the rain. The raindrops falling in the trees make a diffuse white noise sound. The drops hitting your gear make individual sounds. Then there are the large drops from trees that occasionally hit your head with a thwack. You would nd this interesting too if all you had to do was walk along in the rain with not much to do but think.I stopped at the Tellico Gap to put on more clothes as the air chilled. Caught up with Dave at the Wesser Bald shelter, as well as Chad again. Three others were drying off and having lunch. Tadpole walked in carying a half-pint of extra water collected in the bottom of her pack cover.I had shipped my hiking poles ahead to test whether I really needed them. The answer is that I do. The trail down the Nantahala Gorge was narrow, wet and slippery. I slipped numerous times on roots, rocks and muddy patches. No falls, though, until ironically after we were down to the NOC, I stepped down on a large rock to rinse my ground cloth in the river, slipped on some wet leaves and fell on my kiester - almost went into the river. Go figure.The rain stopped about 3pm, and we walked into the NOC about 4pm, where I picked up my bounce box and hiking poles. Things derailed at that point. I thought the bunk rooms were rented at the bunkhouse, and the housing office (where all rentals take place) closed at 5pm. So we were without lodging, with wet tents and clothes, and no place to set up camp without hiking another couple of miles. Fortunately the staff took pity on us, fed us a delicious hot meal of BBQ chicken with all the trimmings, and showed us to two empty bunks. After a hot shower I was ready to hike some more. But not until tomorrow.