Date: 2003-04-17
From: Bird Gap

To: Cow Rock Mountain
Miles today: 10.0

Today was quite a day. We woke up to dark, cloudy skies (the forecast had mentioned rain in the morning). I started packing up, getting ready for the venture over Blood Mountain, and realized that I did not have my water filter. I started looking around the campsite, hoping that nobody else had picked it up, and then remembered I had it with me when I went to check out the shelter the night before. So, I asked another hiker who was coming from the shelter if there had been a water filter there, and he said there was, and it was hanging up inside the shelter. So, I went off down the shelter trail, only to realize that someone had taken it by the time I had gotten there. I came back, a bit dismayed, because I had no water. Fortunately, the kind boy scout group had some extra water, which would get me to Neels Gap and the Walasi-Yi Center. So, I headed off, hoping that I would get there and find the person who had taken the filter.I got to the Gap a couple hours later, just after the rain had started, and ran into a few hikers who I had not seen in a couple of days. I chatted with them a while, asked around about my filter..and eventually found the person that picked it up! He just thought that someone did not need it, as he was the last person leaving the shelter that day, and took it along with him. Needless to say, I was greatful that he carried it along. I did a little browsing at the Walasi-Yi center, to which I spotted a pack cover (which I did not have), but thought I could get a better price on elsewhere, so I did not pick it up. I then decided that, once it quit raining (the forecast only called for am showers), I was going to head out and get a few more miles in. So, it quit raining around 2 or 3, and I packed up and hiked out. An hour later, it started sprinkling again. I didn't think too much of it, and kept hiking. I passed a few people along the way who had decided to tent for the night, and keep out of the rain. These were the smart people. I was the dummy. I kept pushing on, and the rain kept increasing. I really wanted to try to make it to the next shelter, but after a while, it became a futile effort. By this time, the weather had reached full-blown storm level, the sun was setting (I am guessing this, because I did not know the time, and the skies were pitch black from the rain), and my pack now weighed 60+ pounds. So, I decided to give up and find a tent spot. I found a spot on top of Cow Rock Mountain, and set up camp. Everything I had was soaked. My tent was soaked. My extra clothes were soaked. My sleeping bag was soaked. My food, gear...everything. Even the clothing I had on, because the cheap rain suit I had was ripped up from some of the brush near the trail. And it was COLD. I didn't even have the strength, at this point, to cook anything, so I did my best to hang my food bag. I couldn't really see more than a foot in front of me, either, as the terrain was blanketed by a thick fog. I crawled into my wet tent, and then into my wet sleeping bag, and began to shiver uncontrollably. I was soaked to the bone, and was freezing. I began thinking, 'I have not even been out on the trail for a week, and I'm going to die of hypothermia.' I didn't know how I'd make it through the night, and then I remembered my emergency blanket! Thank GOD I decided to keep this. So, I wrapped myself in it, warmed up, and listened to the radio for a weather report almost the entire night. None came on, but I did get to listen to "Danger (shake yo' ass)" quite a number of times. The next morning, I woke up, and all I could do was laugh at myself and my experience. I poked my head out of my tent, and looked over to find that my food bag was hanging just 3 feet off the ground. My rain pants, which I had hung up on a tree branch, had blown away, too. I then started laying out all my pack items on an ajacent boulder, as the sun kept peeping out, and soon saw a few hikers passing to the far right. This confused me, as I thought I was practically right on the trail, and I began to wonder where they were going. So, I walked over to the spot. I ran into another couple of hikers and, after talking to them for a few moments, realized that I had gone off the trail the previous night. Good thing I decided to stop there! After a bit of drying off, I packed up and left...more tired than ever, but with a good bit more camping experience and survival skills than I had just a few days ago. Hopefully we'll make it to a shelter tonight, without the rain!