Date: 2014-04-25
From: Bailey Gap Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Okey doke, well after today I'm back to on my own. Sometimes I really prefer to hike alone, but not when I'm frustrated at how long it's taking to get somewhere or when it's time to take a break. And at the shelter it's kinda lame sitting there by yourself. I'm not looking forward to the change of pace. Todays hike has a couple of segments. First is just a long flat area on top of the mountain, then a very big, very long downhill to a shelter, then right back up the other side and to the next shelter. What we didn't account for was today the weather was not going to cooperate. Heard from the other groups that it would rain today then next week would be very bad. It was all good until we got to the first shelter. A little rain started falling. It was time for lunch so we parked it in the shelter, ate, then played some cards to pass the time and hopefully get the rain to stop. Waited around about an hour and it finally let up so we suited up again and headed out. Hoped to just push the 5.8 miles to the next shelter so we could wait out the rain again before Mariposa had to leave and hike another 2 to the road and her friends pick up. Wrong. In about ten minutes the rain started up again - this time those big heavy drops that you know are not going to be short lived. Just kept climbing up the mountain side hoping it would be over. Wet really just is no fun. And it's still early enough in the year that the wet is cold. So you shiver and really just want it to stop so your body heat can dry you off and warm you up. But no....about half way up, the one place (apart from the actual top) you're not supposed to be, I heard the first rumble of thunder. Ugh. Now you get worried. Wet, tired, uphill, worried. I just tried to hike fast, as if that would help, and Mariposa was some ways behind as she'd stopped to put on her jacket - and it just kept getting worse and worse. Finally, I found a little cove area not on the exposed ridge side and thick with rhododendrons so I popped in and just stood there. What else are you supposed to do? Every place is wet, no place to sit. Mariposa showed up a little later and had the same idea. We sat there, nervous, listening to the thunder and wincing when the lightning would flash while it POURED - that sort of tropical, almost painful pour. Passed the time by talking about all the weird animals we've had invade our homes. Mice, raccoons, squirrels, scorpions. Kept waiting for thunder and then tried to wait fifteen minutes like at a pool but inevitably it would thunder again at 14 minutes 30 seconds. Finally, after about a half hour the rain stopped and then the thunder and we could move on. One time back in high school, I spent the summer in Germany as my dad was in the military. We were staying at some old hotel way up in the Alps in Bavaria and I think I had never really been in the mountains before. It was a day pretty much like today - rainy, very overcast and dark, too wet to really hangout outside. My mom and I ended up spending some time playing cards and drinking cocoa or tea or something while outside the thunder would just rumble and echo off the mountains back and forth and up and down the valleys. I had never heard it so vibrant before. It sort of reminded me of that today. Made me want to have cocoa with my mom. Or maybe just be inside! Evening ended at the shelter. Played lots of cards with Mariposa for the last time then she had to pack up and head to Virginia 42 for time with friends, and shower, laundry, good meal, while I stayed behind at the shelter. BUT, West, Brightside, and Gentle Spirit showed up. Sounds like they have a good time. They hike completely separate from one another but stay together every night. When they all made it to the shelter they ended up having an argument where one thought that the actor who played Gandalf was the same as the one who played Dumbledore. For one, I love how random that is. For two yes, I am a nerd, and yes, like any good nerd I had to set the record straight.   I did not sleep well though. A very pesky mouse kept rustling around near my head and gave me the heebie jeebies. I finally just sunk into my sleeping bag, pulled it tight, and popped in my ear plugs.