Date: 2013-03-18
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter (NC)

To: Carter Gap 
Miles today: 12.5

The chatter this morning was about the forecasted afternoon thunderstorms. It was already raining and everyone wanted to be up and over our first "five'r before they hit. Long John Sinister (my left 2nd toe decided to join the party and now has a blister. Everyday I learn something new (often more than one) about myself, hiking, camping, or the forrest. Today I learned how to take down my tent from the inside and leave the rain fly up so that I can pack my tent without getting it wet (mostly). A BIG thank you to Irish for telling me how to do this. Then I pack the rain fly and footprint in a separate water proof bag to keep it from getting everything else wet. Trying to beat the storms I was out of camp fairly early but not as early as I wanted to be. Soon I was passed by Big Yankee and Wild Blue was not far behind him. I hiked for awhile with Apple Pie (Boston). We had talked a little to each other thru our tents last night. For the most part everyone was keeping the heads down and trying to make the miles. I began the 2.4 mile climb up Standing Indian Mtn (5,498 ft) and was feeling good except for the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about food. Up until this point my appetite had been minimal but I was forcing myself to eat because I knew that I needed the calories. I think my hiker appetite has finally kicked in. I reached Standing Indian Shelter about half a mile up the mountain and decided to stop for lunch, hoping to get out of the wind. Big Yankee and Karma were there when I arrived but soon left. The wind was blowing and the shelter didn't offer much protection. It was noticeably colder and I quickly snarfed down a sausage stick and string cheese and got back on the trail. As I was leaving North Star (formerly Bo from Chicago) and another person arrived. I caught up with Karma at the summit and we hiked together for awhile until she wanted to rest. My new goal was to try to get to the shelter before the thunderstorms hit so I kept moving. It started raining harder just before I arrived at the shelter. I hadn't been in the shelter more than 5 minutes when it started thundering. It was a torrential downpour and hailing when Karma arrived. The shelter was full so everyone made space for me to set up my tent in the shelter and then when the rain let up for a few minutes I carried the tent out and staked it down. I was getting really chilled and knew I needed to get in my sleeping bag or get something hot in me ASAP. I boiled water as fast as I could and poured it into a bag of rice side and used it to warm my hands while I waited for it to cook. Karma as struggling as everything she had was wet. She seemed distraught and I was worried about her. By 6:30 everyone was in their sleeping bags trying to warm up. The people at the shelter were Wild Rain (Georgia - who ALWAYS says its too cold no matter what the temperature), Main (who I hadn't seen in several days), Trail Walker, Karma, Big Yankee, Turtle, and me. Turtle (whose real name is Anita) is a 67 year old woman from Florida. She calls herself Turtle because she hikes slowly but I have never been able to catch her. She also likes to leave camp before daylight so she can get an early start. It's always interesting to find out how people got their trail names. Trail Walker got his when he got to a place to pick up his drop box. Drop boxes are packages that you or your family send to a designated place (usually a hikers hostel, hotel, or post office). The package contains supplies for the next section. You are supposed to mark the packages "Thru Hiker" so that they will know to hold it for you. Well, Trail Walker's mom knew she was supposed to mark it but couldn't remember what it supposed to say so she wrote "Trail Walker" on it. When he arrived to pick it up they asked "are you Trail Walker" and voila you have a trail nameI drifted off to sleep with the sound of rain on my tent.