Date: 2015-03-19
From: Hawk Mountian Shelter

To: Gooch Mountian Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

It rained all night. And it wasn't letting up. I crawled out of sleeping bag and started packing up. I made a quick trip to the privy. Then started the process of packing up a wet tent. Oy vey what a struggle. Eventually I got everything in the pack and threw the beast on my back. I put on my rain gear that morning and I started trudging along. Hahaha. It actually wasn't too bad. It was still absolutely amazing hiking along the trail, even in the rain. I didn't take too many pictures, it was just so wet and foggy. I had originally planned to hike all the way to Lance Creek this day but with the rain I decided to cut it short. Plus it was good that I didn't push myself to fast too soon. Along the way I met up with 2 other solo hikers and we became a band that kind of helped each other along that day. Kelly, who was originally hiking with a friend ended up having to hike Alone because her friend was sick and had to go home. The other person was Will. He ended up hiking up the access road to Springer Mountian and then completely missed Hawk Mountian Shelter in the dark. He went 20 miles yesterday. When I first saw him he was hiking back to the shelter to get water, but then decided to not and turned back around. Eventually we met up with each other along the trail and we stuck together. It's hard to describe but it was just so organic and we just clicked. Will named Kelly Sunny Smiles because she is always so happy and cheerful. Which was great on such a rainy, cold day. We were calling Will, Will I Am. But Sunny mentioned Iron Will so he was contemplating between the two. We made it to camp at about 230. We did a pretty decent speed in the rain. My pack was tiring me out and Will was tired from not having enough food and water the day before. We made it into camp and had our choice of campsites. The shelter was already full but I much prefer to have the privacy of my tent. Sunny and I set up our tents right next to each other on the same pad. The only pad that was full of mud and water. Will had stopped to chat with the guys in the shelter but came down and set up his tent near us. Then the process of setting up a wet tent in the rain. We helped each other out to get it done faster. It's so hard to organize the tent when everything is wet. We chatted for a bit out in the rain. We spent a good deal of time trying to get Wills wood burning stove going for some heat. But everything was just so wet. But it turned out Will had some little bottles of alcohol. Sunny and I shared a bottle of brandy and Will had some gin to warm up. Hahaha. We went to our tents and tried to warm up a bit. I changed into dry clothes and crawled in to my sleeping bag to read for a bit. I could not get warm. I shivered the whole time. It was starting to be a bit concerning because what the heck was I going to do when night came and it got even colder. About 630 I got out of my tent, used the privy and decided to make dinner. So far I haven't been that hungry and I have no interest in eating. But I know I have too. We had a break in the rain so I sat out and cooked some dinner. Sunny and Will came out and did their dinner as well. Will showed me how to hang a bear bag. I knew the theory of how to do it but his help was much appreciated! After dinner we all crawled back into our tents for the night. I had on two pairs of socks with hot hand between the two Pairs. Long johns and my hiking pants, a tshirt a fleece sweater and my down jacket on. And my knit hat. I was actually toasty warm in the sleeping back that night. I read for a bit the went to sleep.