Date: 2012-08-04
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: Rutland
Miles today: 15.9

Spirit is meeting with the "Honeymoon Hikers" today to go into Wallingford and I'm going on a little further.By late morning I decided to take a break near some weird looking rock piles that other hikers have made along the trail. While I was sitting there "Cheese Water" and "Towely" walked up and decided to stop as well. They are going to a restaurant off VT 103, I decided to tag along. The hike was fairly uneventful till we got down to the Menerva Hinchey Shelter. We stopped there for a snack and met a hiker named "OWF", as well as her dog. The name "OWF" conjures up thoughts of a big bumbling idiot, but trail names can be deceiving. OWF is actually a petite little 19 year old girl. I would tell you what O.W.F. stands for, but it's not appropriate. OWF started a thru-hike last year and got off the trail in North Adams. She's back on the trail this year to finish the hike. OWF and her dog left to get back on the trail while Towely and Cheese water started discussing how nice the shelter was. The rain had begun to pick up as well as the thundering sound of lightning striking nearby. After thinking about restaurant food all afternoon I wasn't about to let 3.3 miles and a little rain stop me. I encouraged Towely and Cheese Water to give up the idea of staying in the shelter and walk a little further. That probably wasn't a smart idea....A short distance up the trail we met OWF walking in the opposite direction, she was headed back toward the shelter. By that time it was pouring down rain and the lightning was striking very close. OWF was obviosly scared. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but I hadn't. I said "don't worry, you'll be fine. I've had the shit scared out of me by lightning a couple times now". So, I managed to talk them all into hiking further. The lightning cracks seemed to be getting closer and more frequent the further up we got. I have to admit, I started getting a little scared. I also felt responsible for pushing the other hikers to go further and started praying for their safety. By the time we got up the the ridge it was very exciting. One flash of light was so bright that I put my hands over my head expecting a nearby tree to be blown apart. There was a bald rocky overlook along the ridge where I could clearly see lightning bolts touching down around us. I was so scared I started laughing. My friend Dawson (who served in the Marines and is now a part time EMT), once told me about seeing things so horrible that all they could do was make jokes about it. I never quite understood that until today. Laughing in the face of adversity is sometimes the only way to deal with the fear. It's too bad it takes extreme events to remind us of that. If you don't laugh situations can get way too serious.I was relieved when the trail started going downhill. The path had turned into a slippery river. I wanted to run down the hill but I figured slipping on the rocks could be just as bad as getting struck by lightning. When we finally got down to the road I said a silent thank you for making it down ok. We had to walk a 1/4 mile down to the resturaunt. Everyone was laughing and happy to be on the road. But I was still a little freaked out. The restaurant didn't open for dinner until 4:00pm and it was only 3:30pm. Luckily, the people working there felt so bad for us that they let us in early. We were cold and wet. Getting inside and changing into drier clothes felt soooo good! Muck and Gypsy showed up shortly after and we placed our orders. While we waited, I pulled the soaking wet phone out of my pack and set it on the table. It's acting as if it's possessed, the phone is turning itself on and off. It's also switching from ring to vibrate all on its own. This isn't good. There is also water visible behind the screen and a weird diagonal line across the display. I decided to not think about it yet because there wasn't anything I could do about it anyway.The lightning, wind, and rain hadn't stopped since we got into the restaurant. OWF's dog was tied up outside freaking out because of the thunder. The cook told OWF she could bring him inside. None of us wanted to get back on the trail. We decide to go into Rutland and get hotel rooms. While we discussed our options another lightning bolt struck and the power went out. I worried that we might not get our food, but they told us they cook on propane and it would be done shortly. The meal was great, and one of the cooks offered to drive us into Rutland afterward. We had to take a back road because a tree had knocked down some power lines and the fire department had 103 blocked off.I went to the market in Rutland and got a bag of dry rice to put my phone in as well as a few other things. I strung up a clothesline across our hotel room so we could dry our stuff out. Muck and Gypsy got a separate room. OWF, Cheese Water, Towely, OWF's dog, and I shared a room. Cheese Water and Towely decided to go to the bar and I set up my thermarest on the floor rather then argue over who gets a bed. I watched a little TV and went to bed about 11:00pm after chatting with OWF for a little while.