Date: 2006-06-01
From: Nolichucky River

To: Along trail near Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Total miles today 20.5Total trail miles today 20.3start at Uncle Charlies HostelFinish along trail near Iron Mountain Gap at AT mile 359.0staying in tent4900 feet go ups2400 feet of downs   What a day it turned out to be.   Started out early and hit the top of Beauty Spot about noon. On the way up the hill I meet Fred-o coming down. I had thought that he had gone home long ago, but it turns out he has gotten his big section hike done as of today - 380 miles.   Right after Fred-o I meet a guy that I recognized as he did me. Turns out we had run into each other during our careers years ago. It is a small world at times.   Not long after this I am puffing my way up Unaka Mtn when the predicted thunderstorms start arriving and arriving and.... I skedaddle off the top remembering my lightening fun back in the Park. Trouble is that there are a whole bunch of little knobs to go over. At one point a bolt hit about 400 yards away that helped speed my tired feet up. Course it was raining (18th rain day) and I was wet. As usual I had not bothered to put my rain gear on because of it being too hot. This later turned out to be a bad choice.   As the storms got heavier I was going over this small knob. I was back to plodding along but for some reason all of a sudden I got the thought that this is not a good time to be here and proceeded to hustle out of there. Not 2 minutes later a bolt hit right on top of the knob. I guess I knew this was coming due to my growing Oneness with the natural world.   About this time the sky just opened out big time. In seconds, I was drenched and it just kept up forever it seemed. Must have rained at least 2 to 3 inches in the next hour. Now since I was at about 4000 feet it was not a nice warm rain, but rather a cold one. I tried to keep walking hard to generate warmth but after about 30 minutes I started to get on the point of shivering. I knew I needed to get warm fast so, even though I knew I would get a lot of water in my pack, I grabbed my rain jacket and put it on and beat feet down the trail. This too only worked for a while and then I started to get cold again. I started looking for a place to make camp. Rain or not I needed to get out of the rain and get something hot in me. Unfortunately, I just could not find a place suitable for my tent for sometime. Much of this time I am walking up this ridge and the water running down is about ankle deep. So I struggled on for about 15 mins more and found a little flat spot and began the tricky process of setting and keeping the inside of the tent dry. In a hard rain this is difficult, but I was pretty successful. First thing after that I wolfed down a candy bar for a quick hit of energy.   Once the tent was up and I had assured myself that the sleeping bag was relatively dry I knew I was home free. I quickly started a couple of cups of water heating and while that was going on I stripped down to my skin to get away from the soaked clothes and then into the full rain suit. About the time the water was ready for the noodles it finally quits raining. So what did I eat? Double serving of alfredo, beef stick, hot chocolate and a tortilla. Hmm ... I'm getting hungry again. But all is cool, or warm I should say, and I¢m in my bag for the night.   Woodstock just caught up with me about 2015. He got soaked too and also had to stop and make himself something to eat. He is also looking for a place to camp but there is not room for 2 tents here. He is going to grab the next spot he finds down the ridge.    Tough day. I hear coyotes howling and more thunder in the distance. It doesn't get any more real than this.      WyomingWhich way is North?