Date: 2015-10-27
From: Bryant Ridge Shelter 

To: Cove Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

It started raining very hard with strong winds at 2am and never let up. I was surprised because the last weather report I heard said it would be nice and sunny all week. The wind howled all night long, and I could hear branches snapping from trees. I was so glad I decided to take a short day otherwise I would be in a tent near a creek in this storm that sounds ferocious.  When I got up in the middle of the night during the storm to answer nature's call I had my red light on my headlamp and did not see the 12 inch step and landed in a crumpled heap on the shelter floorwith my other ankle sore now. It was definitely a jolt to my system when I was half asleep. After this I couldn't get back to sleep and felt a sore throat coming on. I ate breakfast in my sleeping bag and didn't want to get up because of the cold and relentless rain.Trail Mix and Downhill Trucker stopped in the shelter soaking wet. They had spent the night at Jennings Creek where I was supposed to be. They also marveled at this incredible shelter and would have stayed the night to get out of the rain, but they are section hiking and on a schedule.  They let me know it is supposed to rain hard the next couple days from the remnants of a hurricane in the Pacific. I decided waiting out the rain wasn't going to work and I would leave this palace and make my way to the next shelter seven miles away so I would at least make some forward progress and have a dry place to sleep. Fiddle came by before I left and we chatted for a bit. She is close to my age, and I don't haven't met many woman near my age. We met briefly in the Shenandoahs when she and a friend were taking a lunch break and she said she would be flipping north near Daleville and I might see her again. So glad I did. Old School stopped by as well. I met him at the shelter where EZ E was waiting for me when I slackpacked. He's going to go into town in a few miles and sit out the rain for a couple days.It was after 1pm when I started hiking with all my rain gear on in the pouring rain. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so cold and windy. Not a good combination.  The trail was up and down, and I'm sure I missed a lot of great views but I couldn't see anything.  I struggled to keep warm and trudged along until I made it to Cove Mountain Shelter where I am the only one here again. I was soaking wet when I arrived. I somehow missed the access point for the water at Jennings Creek and even though I knew there is no water at this shelter I didn't want to go back down and look for it in the driving rain. I only have half a cup of water so I had some cheese and crackers for dinner with snacks.  I am rationing the water until I get to a stream a few miles down the trail in the morning.  The rain is coming into the shelter sideways and half the shelter is already wet. The mist from the rain has my down bag wet.  I'm wearing a shirt over my head because I lost my fleece hat again when I went paddling. As I write this in the shivering cold I heard what had to be a tree falling in the wind with a deafening boom. I hear tree limbs falling everywhere and landing on the roof of the shelter making me cringe. This has not been an easy day for me, but I am so thankful to be in this shelter instead of my tent where tree limbs might really do some damage. Time to stick my head back in my sleeping bag to keep warm. Thanks for reading!