Date: 2015-08-21
From: Barren Ledges 

To: Carl Newhall shelter
Miles today: 19.6

One word for today - SOAKED... Yes, SOAKED!! We woke to a fog that had rolled in overnight. So of course our tent was damp. We dried it off as best we could but as soon as we dried an area off, the drops from the fog fell back on the tent. Eventually, we gave up. We climbed Barren Mountain first thing. It was a steep climb over rocks. It was almost a 700 foot climb. The forest was all every green trees. There were some very large trees. They reminded us of the Redwoods in California.   We walked a very rocky ridgeline line for a mile and a half. We saw nothing except clouds. We dropped 700 feet and went across Fourth Mountain bog. Today's mountains Fourth Mountain, Mount Three and a half, Third Mountain, Columbus Mountain, and last but not least was Chairback Mountain. Are there first three mountain names original? Every mountain we climbed had a view point. All we saw was white.    There was a treat of rain all day. We arrived at Chairback Gap Lean-to. Just as we arriveded, the rain came. We were lucky we were under cover. Another hiker came about 20 minutes later. He was dripping wet. He didn't seem to mind. Well, he didn't seem to care about being wet as much as we care about being wet.   After lunch we climbed Chairback Mountain. The climb up wasn't bad. Dear help the climb down. There was a rock slide of about 400 feet. It was very, very tough. They say Katahdin is like this. If so, we are in for a long day when we summit.    It was a long descent down to the Pleasant River. Just as we got there the heavens opened up and it started to pour. We put our ponchos on and waited for about 20 minutes until the rain slowed a bit. We had to ford the river so off came the boots and socks and we made our way across. We had just got over to the other side when it started to pour again. We actually hiked barefooted for awhile because we didn't want to put our boots on in the rain. We finally stopped and put our boots back on and then it was time to get hiking for real.    We decided to try to make it to the next shelter that was nearly 6 miles away. We had no sooner started when again it started to pour rain. Only this time it rained for the next 3 hours. We are talking torrential downpour.   The trail was soon a small river and we were beyond soaked. Water was squishing in our shoes but we had no choice but to continue on. It was a miserable day of hiking. By the time we arrived at the shelter it was a nearly dark. We got to the shelter and it was already full. We asked them if there was any way we could squeeze in but they said it was full. I really don't like section hikers. Thru-hikers would have made room for us but we ended up putting up our tent in the rain. Not what we wanted to do.   We set the tent in what we thought was a flat area. Since it was dark, we couldn't really see what the tent area looked like. We did know it was pine needles in the ground as we were in a pine forest.    Since our clothes were soaking wet, we took them off outside and left them hang in a tree for the night. We quickly crawled into the tent. Normally, we take our backpacks into the tent for the night. Again since they were soaked, we left them in the vestibule of the tent. We were so hungry, we made dinner after we dried off and put nice, warm, dry clothes on.    As we were eating dinner, we noticed the tent floor starting to rise. Higher and higher it went. We realized the ground we put the tent on was not flat. A puddle of rain was pooling under our tent floor and ground covering. We were not going outside to move the tent. So, we blew up our therma-rests and sat on them. We had to keep our dry items on the therma-rests. It was like we were on a life raft waiting for the water to rise. Also, our backpacks were having water run into them since they were essentially outside. All we could do was hold the sides of the tent up to insure the water didn't flow into the tent. We also were praying without ceasing.    The rain would slow for a few minutes. We thought it was stopping. But, no, it continued to rain. Harder and harder.   It seemed like a hurricane going past as the rain came in waves. Then, the unthinkable happened.. The puddle under the tent started seeping in from the bottom. We wiped up the dampness. But, it was a losing battle.   We were so tired. We just wanted to go to sleep. But, we couldn't as we were afraid we would let go of the edges of the tent. Finally around 10:30, the rain slowed. The puddle subsided a bit. We wiped the bottom of the tent as best we could. The water was still seeping in. So, we decided to use one sleeping bag between us. It is to rain tomorrow also. We thought if we used just one bag, if it gets wet, we have a dry one for tomorrow night.    As we were going to sleep, we heard thunder in the background. We prayed the storm wouldn't come. Thankfully, it didn't. We slept but not very well. Obviously, we were concerned about being dry.