Date: 2004-08-13
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: few clouds

Started at: West Branch of Pleasant RiverEnded at: Logan Brook Lean-toMiles: 12.7Some days on the AT are so incredibly miserable...and well to be honest, these days are actually my favorite. I can't let on that this is true though because Heather gets really pissed off. But, no really today was in fact brutal (as Camel would say).We woke up in the middle of the night to the heaviest rain so far on the trail; so heavy that I was worried the tent might collapse or flood. I looked out the screen to see the river rising and rising and rising...we were tenting right on the rivers bank, brilliant!!I didn't really sleep last night and "woke up" with my head in a pool of water. Oh yeah, the tent did flood...huh...I was right. My backpack was soaked including the camera and pocketmail! Mud had coated everything. It was still raining hard at seven or eight in the morning and today it was important for us to get going and hike a long hard day. We just had to get over White Cap today, the last big up before Katahdin! Only problem was, we didn't want to be on the top of the highest mountain for miles around WHEN A HURICANE HITS!We got out of the tent and noticed that the water level of the river had risen probably four or five feet. Another foot and we would have floated away in the night! The river, which had been gentle and low last night, was now raging, solid white water. As bad as this morning was looking, though, it coulda been worse. The friends we left back at the last shelter are now stranded on the other side of the river, maybe for days? It was only by chance that we ended up camping on this side of the river last night. After coming down Chairback Mtn, when we reached water's edge it was already getting dark. Didn't seem too smart to ford a stream in the dark. But then we had heard Camel call to us from the other side, "There are flat spots to tent over here." So we took off our shoes, put on our headlamps, and made it across in the dark. And now we're thanking our lucky stars we did.This morning we started out trying to keep everything dry as we packed, but gave up on that pipe dream almost immediately. So instead, we sucked it up and began preparing for the day like it was any other, except that we were soaking wet down to the bone with mud covering everything. Our packs were in fact much heavier than normal due to the additional water weight. We packed the tent with probably a half liter of water still in it. We didn't have time to worry about how we would sleep in wet sleeping bags tonight...we just started hiking.We didn't talk much. Leki looked over at me with an expression that seemed to say "We are F#$%@$". I was thinking to myself that this was very exciting, but was also concerned about getting over White Cap Mountain in this weather without getting struck by lightening or just beat down by the rain and wind. The tempeature was dropping too.The trail was completely flooded. All day we slogged through streaming knee deep water in the middle of the trail. The steeper sections of the trail turned into waterfalls. The actual streams were swollen and a bit deep to cross. It was a hard day of hiking. Our feet looked like cottage cheese after being wet for ten hours.We made it to Carl A. Newhall Lean-to for lunch, where a big group of hikers had taken cover from the rain. Everyone's morale was low and the shelter was pretty quiet. Nobody wanted to hike over the last big mountain in this rain and wind. But we pulled ourselves away and set off to climb White Cap Mt., our very last significant peak until Katahdin. White Cap was awesome in this weather. The winds must have been thirty miles an hour and it was raining hard. The clouds were being whipped over the exposed peak making it seem very inhospitable with almost no visibility.We finally made it to the shelter. There were a number of us there: NY Mule, Camel, Anna, Chris, Leki, and Willie G. Camel actually set up his hiking hamock in the rain so we could fit in the shelter; thanks buddy! We got the last three spots in the house. That night it rained and rained. We were all in pretty bad shape. We tried our best to be positive even though we were about to go to sleep in wet sleeping bags. Eating was particularly nice tonight. I think are going to make it. After today nothing can stop us from making it to Katahdin. If my left knee goes out now, I will crawl to the end. Camera 1 & Camera 2Heather & Arwenvaughan@pocketmail.comhttp://www.hobbithole.net