Date: 2014-05-13
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Tom Floyd Shelter
Miles today: 23.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today I make my way out of the Shenandoahs. It's a big milestone as the next one is Harpers Ferry and the ceremonial halfway point. Said adios to Shybear who is dealing with a little plantar fasciitis and started walking. Humid morning but pretty easy hike. Passed the last wayside so I was forced to get another blackberry milkshake. Delicious! Also a bagel and Gatorade. Oh! I pooped. And it was normal. What a relief. I guess it was the beer after all. The forecast is for rain again. Seems the cycle. A clear night. A humid morning. Clouds build. It cools off. It rains. It's humid again. Repeat. My second stop was Gravel Springs shelter. Hung out for a while and had a snack while chatting up some section hikers. You could feel the air beginning to change. Decision time. Either stay here and wait it out or hike and hope it passes by. I hike. What happens while still on the blue blaze? Rain. Of course. It's light. I don't even put my rain jacket on again. But then it hits. Harder....then harder. Now I'm drenched. Too late really to cover up and really it passes fast. I'm way up high so I just find a big rock on the edge of a cliff and take my pack and shirt off to dry. Might as well eat again. Seems that the rain today is over...or is it. Way way (way) off in the distant I can hear rumbling. I'm high enough I can see all around and the storm seems a long way away and moving away. Away. I still have six miles and a mountain to climb. That's about two and a half hours. Plenty of time. I just hike along. Really make good time. But all of a sudden it gets breezy cold and dark. Very dark. Uh oh. Hike faster Dune. I put on Miley Cyrus/Party in the USA (don't judge it makes me happy and has a good hiking beat). The storm seems to pass. Until, I notice the bass line gets a lot louder then I remember. Earphones come off and there it is. Thunder. Loud thunder. Still no flashes of lightning so I'm staying calm but I sure am hiking fast. Then the rain starts. First just drops. But quickly turns into a downpour. I'm still about half an hour away and it gets horrible. That's all I can say is horrible. I'm now seeing lightning flashes and cringe each time. The rain is a torrent and I get so nervous I fold up my lightning rod trekking poles, take my wrists out of the wrist loops, and hold them at my side so I can just drop them if I feel tingling or something. I know in a minute I should hit a downhill that leads to the shelter. None too soon, as being on a ridge is not where you want to be. What I didn't expect is the downhill being so abrupt. It lead back and forth down the side of a cliff as the thunder got louder and louder. It's hard to explain what it feels like to have a heavy pack on, be drenched all the way through, and run down a slippery hill dodging rocks and roots all the while terrified of lightning. Then it happened - FLASH!!! BAM!!! Right in front of me maybe fifty feet. I think maybe I was a little relieved that whatever charge was in my area is now discharged but I about peed my pants. Mere moments after I made it to the shelter. A very cool one at that. Perfect little spot with 180¢¢ views. It had a big deck out front and a good deep overhang. Upscale! Again I'm the only one there and just stripped right down, peeling off clothes like a banana. Changed into my dry camp shirt and bathing suit and got to work setting up a dry line. Seriously though, this storm just would not give up. Huge rumbles and flashes with heavy rain. But I'm under cover and feeling relieved. About half an hour later comes poor Shybear. His glasses have all fogged so he can't see and he's as drenched as me. We sat there for a good hour shocked at how long this storm keeps at it. But we're rewarded with an incredible sunset to the west. Long long long day.