Date: 2004-03-16
From: Seely/Woodworth Shelter

To: US 60 (Buena Vista, VA - Budget Inn)
Miles today: 14.0

Rain10PM - Budget InnWell, my plan to use my tent fly to keep me warm in the shelter worked, sort of. An hour after I turned out my light I was nice and toasty and started shedding layers. Just before my midnight break I checked the fly. It was soaked, as was the outside of my sleeping bag. I thought that condensation inside a tent was from your breath. But it is clearly contributed to by water vapor coming from your body, since my breathing apparatus was nowhere near the fly. I guess that makes sense, particularly since with all my layers I was always on the edge of sweating, so the inside of the sleeping bag was probably at a humidity close to 100% at a temperature close to 80, while the temperature of the fly was probably close to 40. So just like my glasses often fogged up when I came into my warm house from a cold walk, the fly 'fogged' up as well, and passed moisture on to the bag.I didn't get cold when I removed the fly because the sky had clouded over stopping the drop in temperature. Shortly a gentle rain started, but increased in intensity as the rest of the night passed. By morning it was coming down quite steadily.But I needed to resupply, and had to walk 14 miles to do it, so I packed up and started walking just after 7. The rain was cool, but since today's terrain was mostly gentle (most of the day was spent between 3500 and 4000'), and there was nothing to stop for (visibility was about 200' all day), I set a pretty good pace and felt comfortably warm. But despite my raingear, I got pretty much soaked to the skin.Things were going well until Tar Jacket Ridge (I think), which is a long, nearly bald stretch of mountain. As I started up the ridge the wind picked up, the air got noticeably colder, and snow became mixed with rain. The summer weight gloves I had switched with the winter weights in Waynesboro (because they were causing pain in the backs of my hands) just weren't making it, even when supplemented with a pair of socks and a couple of Glad bags.I began to think of Footslogger last year being overcome with hypothermia on a summer day, and wondered if I was in any danger. But I could still feel a good reserve of heat in my body's core, so pushed on.Just as I was wondering if the mountain would never end, I was startled by two figures emerging from the fog. It turned out to be two thru-hikers, Scamp and Greylock, who had walked from Springer to US 60 last year, and had just taken up their hike again. They were my first thru-hikers this year!! But because of my concern about the cold we only chatted for a minute or two and then I moved on.After I got down off that mountain, the weather got a bit warmer and the rest of the hike was quite pleasant, if wet. In fact a couple of miles later I passed over Cold Mountain (again, I think), a true bald which is higher than Tar Jacket, and very much enjoyed the walk and felt quite comfortable.Nothing else of note happened on the walk. But when I reached US 60 I had assumed I would have no problem hitch hiking the 9 miles into Buena Vista (I certainly wasn't going to walk another 9 miles). WRONG! After an hour all I had gotten was a couple of waves. And my cell phone wouldn't work (Yes, I am carrying one at the insistence of my family for just such situations). The rain had stopped but the temperature was dropping. Fortunately I was able to talk an elderly lady living near the trailhead into letting me use her phone to call this motel, who put me in touch with a shuttle driver to bring me into town. My first instance of Trail Magic (people along the Trail doing nice things for AT hikers)!It is now past 11PM, and WAY past every thru-hiker's bedtime.See you on down the Trail!