Date: 2013-06-13
From: Chestnut Knob Shelter

To: Jenkins Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: moderate rain

Side note: I'd forgotten to tell the story on our second day where Bandit and I were coming around a corner and just as I looked up from my feet to check on Bandit, there he stood, nose-to-nose with a fawn that was just Bandit's height. The fawn paused and then spun and took off. Bandit jumped off the trail but didn't follow it. Then he turned and looked at me as of to say " What the heck was that?"Now back to Thursday, our fouth day..... Sometime in the middle of the night poor Bandit started panting up in the loft and continued to do so for sometime. I'd observed his stool being soft the day before and he'd thrown up a small amount at some point. His panting told me he was going to get sick now and I wasn't sure which end it was going to come out of. We were in a loft over Angel and her three male friends. If Bandit got sick in the loft it was sure to leak through on top of them and their gear. What a mess that would be!!! But there was no way to get him back down to floor level without waking 1/2 the shelter. In the end, I woke 1/2 the shelter and Bandit lit out the door pronto when he was lifted down. A few minutes later he returned once again waking everyone to ask to get back in the loft. Of course each time Badit went up or down Angel would snarf at Bandit to remind him she was in charge. Voi! Voi! Dogs in shelters are still a bad plan!!!At the shelter was Seeker, Angel, Buddy, Chainsaw, Duct Tape, Hickory (older thru-hiker who was on his second or third thru-hike), a young couple who was thru-hiking whose names escapes me, and Bandit and I. We all rose early with Seeker and Hickory heading out right away. I followed about 1/2 an hour later. I'd left at 7:45 a.m. There were to be severe thunder storms by 1:00 p.m. and we were all headed for the safety of Jenkins Shelter as quick as we could.There had been no water source at Chestnut Shelter so the first order of business was to get more water a mile down the trail. Chainsaw gave me some of his water before I headed out as I was totally out. This is one of the kindest offerings another hiker can give you on the trail... An offering of treated water. That was extremely kind of him. With water resupplied, at the bottom of Chestnut Ridge, we headed out for a 5 mile ridge rock scramble called Garden Mountain. It didn't turn out to be as dicey as rumored so good time was being made. Shortly after starting the rock scramble, Bandit surprised a huge buck who promptly scampered away. 1/2 way through the rock scramble, I stopped to look at radar and could see that the predicted storms were barring down on us. I couldn't see or hear the storms yet but I quickened my pace.By the time I got to the gravel road VA 623, there were strong sounds of thunder coming. It was here that I met another female SoBo hiker who was reading. She seemed very unconcerned about the pending danger. Just as we were parting ways, a very panicked woman stopped on the road in her car to offer us a ride into town. She was very worried about us being out on the trail in a severe thunderstorm and noted there was a tornado watch until 7 p.m. And would we please get in her car. We both politely declined her offer.Moments after, Bandit and I crossed the road you could hear the wind coming up the mountainside. It was the storm front coming. There were massive boulders in a huge outcropping just ahead and I yelled at Bandit to get his butt into the biggest overhang I could find. Then I piled my butt in after him. There wasn't much room but we hunkered down and peeked out at the bending trees in the very strong winds. It thundered and lightening and poured. Prayers were said that no trees or branches would fall our way. Thank God they didn't.As the front moved on, we crawled out of hiding covered in mud. But not for long because then the down pour came. We hauled ass through pouring rain that Bandit was objecting to. The rain eventually subsided and we stopped for water .8 mile before the shelter and to catch our breath.At Jenkin's Shelter we had Seeker, Duct Tape, Chainsaw, Angel, Bandit, and I. We all setup camp in the shelter. Dinner of spaghetti with chicken and taco sauce was surprisingly good. Shortly before dark, Humming Bird, a young woman solo hiker rolled in and climbed in her tent. On / off rain until midnight. Bandit got sick twice during night climbing down from the shelter and running out into the dark. He'd had a runny stool throughout the day. Poor boy.