Date: 2006-06-27
From: 501 Shelter

To: 501 Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Get out the Ark plans - more rain acomin'. But some signs of relative clearing tomorrow. Bama said last night's Trail Magic was beyond belief. Amy brought a pot of chili with all the fixin's - onions, cheese and crackers, plus hot cresent rools and butter, pasta salad, cookies and soft drinks for all 15 hikers - plus more for others! Fritz said he was going to bring coffee this morning, but everybody said they had already done more than could be wished for. Thanks again, Amy & Fritz!The shelter is a very nice one, more like an enclosed cabin. There are sun showers and a nice private porta-potty (clean!). At least everyone got a break from being soaked to the skin. Joining Bama were Little Wing, Old Drum, Mapman & Robin, Headstand, Kilgore Trout, Ponch & Moe, CarBomb & Lichen, Nick, Sleepy the Arab, Tipper and WineSap.Today looks iffy. I gave her the usual Doppler radar report for the area and the forecast. Big decision today. With all the rain and flash flooding, Bama, Little Wing, Old Drum, Nick and Sleepy the Arab decided to zero at the shelter. They will have all day to dry out a little, get baths and wait out what could be dangerous hiking conditions. The other stalwart folks decided to risk it and head for the next shelter. Cohiba and Otter went to Amy and Fritz's hostel.At 10:45 am this morning, Fritz and Amy showed up with hot coffee and warm muffins for everyone. They stayed for about an hour, chatting and listening to trail tales. Fritz told me he would love to do long-distance hikes, but the tasks of breeding and raising prize Hungarian Vizslas and running a kennel kept them busy. He and Amy are content helping thru-hikers. And do they ever!The weather will not improve significantly until Thursday or Friday. Meanwhile, the weather service is predicting harder rains tonight as the tropical depression off North Carolina passes north. The Weather Channel says landslides and massive flooding are probable in this area. I pray the folks ahead of Bama are safe and sound.Maybe more news later this evening . . . Others are bound to come to the shelter tonight.Whatta night! Bama called late yesterday and the rain was hitting the metal roof and skylight at the 501 Shelter so hard, she could barely hear me on the phone and was almost yelling to be heard. The five of them did what they could to rest and dry out. Amy came back yesterday evening with a pizza and some fruit tea.Rusch Hour and Indiana came in during the day and later, a girl named Chardonnay, hiked in about 4:00 pm. She decided to hike on by herself to tent somewhere up the trail. A guy named Mercury stopped and rested and left soon after, too. At about 7:30 pm, the two struggled back to the 501 Shelter, exhausted and telling tales of chest deep water at a stream past PA 183 about nine miles uptrail.This morning the NOAA report still calls for 100% chance of heavy rain today, tapering off tonight and clearing starting tomorrow. At 6:30 am ET, it was not raining in their area but most are sitting tight to let the water recede somewhat so they won't have to repeat what happened to Chardonnay last night.Bama's cell phone is running low on power, so reports will likely be short, if there are any more. Little Wing's Scott is flying up from Gainesville, FL and I'm driving my truck up Thursday to meet them in Port Clinton (or somehwere) for the July 4th week-end. We're all planning some slack packing to keep the girls on schedule, but we'll see how they feel. Soaked boots, socks and feet guarantee blisters.Bill