Date: 2009-08-29
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean to

To: Rainbow Spring Campsite
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: light rain

Dramatic Day on the TrailI awoke at 5:30 AM to the sound of Jeremy, whose tent was closest to mine, packing up his stuff, and the sound of light rain. It had been clear the night before, so the rain was a surprise. I got moving and packed up some stuff and moved everything to the shelter, so I could pack it up and keep it dry.There were four of us, John, Padre, Fort Defiance, and myself, who shared space as we each cooked breakfast. John was not sure if he could hike very well today, as his left foot had become infected. He had gotten a blister on a toe some 4 days ago and it had gotten worse. A couple of days ago, his left foot slipped off a rock in a creek and had gotten wet. That certainly did not help and may have worsened it. Anyway, his foot was red and swollen, far beyond the infected toe. He thought that he could hike on it, though.It was raining and cold as we all contemplated starting the hike. John and I left about 7:30 AM, with it raining. We went up and over Neshuntabunt Mountain, a 1500 foot mountain. It was not a tough climb, but the trail was wet and made for somewhat slow going.It rained most of the morning.   We got to Rainbow Stream Lean To about 12:30 PM. Trudger and Jeremy were already there and Padre came along in a few minutes. We decided to cook a hot lunch since it was so cold out. John was shivering as we prepared lunch. I asked him if he was okay and he said he felt terrible. About 1:30, I was getting ready to move on and asked John if he was ready. He said "No". He felt like he couldn't go on. He had decided to hike back south on the AT to a logging road that we had crossed about 2.5 miles back. He was going to walk down that road and see if he could find someone to give him a ride out, or to call the Hostel in Millinocket, Maine, to get someone to pick him up. He felt like he needed medical care for his foot as soon as possible. I offered to go with him, but he urged me to continue the hike.Trudger and Jeremy, and Padre, were staying at the Lean To for the rest of the day. With some reluctance, I continued on the hike. I bid farewell to John, and was a bit sad, as we had hiked together, figuratively and literally, for the last two weeks and had shared a lot of Trail experiences.It had stopped raining briefly as I hiked away from Rainbow Spring Campsite, leaving about 1:45 PM. It started raining again shortly. The Trail was parallel to a couple of lakes and so had many roots. Still, I was able to do a moderate 2 mile per hour pace.I got to the Rainbow Spring Campsite about 3:45. The choice, as I understood it then, was to stop and camp at the Campsite, or hike on to a Lean To, some 8 miles further. I knew that I was not up to doing another 8 miles, so I decided to stay at the Campsite. As it turned out, that was a mistake.I had stopped and talked to a SOBO throughhiker. I asked her if there were any campsites past Rainbow Spring and she said no. I was asking her if there were any 'stealth' campsites (a flat place to put my tent), and she was either not aware of any stealth sites, or answering that there were no official sites.So, I found a nice camping spot under some trees and put up my tent, in the rain. I was cold and tired, and so, dried out my tent, put on my dry sleeping clothes and got in my sleeping bag. To the sound of rain on the tent, I went to sleep. I awoke about 6:30 PM, shivering. This really worried me, as I had done all the 'right' stuff, put on dry clothes, got in my sleeping bag, which is a 15 degree rated bag. This is generally the best way to get warm. And, here I was shivering! It was getting dark and no one else was around (or so I thought; there were two guys in the camping area, not near my tent). I was worried about hypothermia!   I was not hungry, but it occurred to me that I should eat something. I got out my food bag and ate everything loose, that I could find and did not need cooking, some beef jerky, a couple of chocolate nuggets, two English muffins with peanut butter. About 10 minutes after I ate, the shivering subsided and I was warm and comfortable. And was, all night. Apparently, the cold and wet had sapped all my reserves and my body simply needed some food energy. I don't know if that's ever happened to me before. I shudder (shiver?) to think what would have happened if I had not done that.Otherwise, I slept well through the night, with the sound of rain on the tent. I have a fine tent and it stays dry, so the sound of rain at night is welcome.