Date: 2019-05-29
From: Knot Maul Shelter

To: Stealth campsite by Walker's Gap
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: clear sky

May 29 (Day 69): We left Knob Maul Shelter and started up another mountain. We were headed to the Chestnut Knob Shelter at the top of Garden Mountain and we knew today was going to be a day of brutals ups. And it was. But once we got near the top, it opened up to pastures along the Chestnut Ridge. They were nice and so pretty, but now we were out in the open in the blazing sun. Whew! Was it hot! And they went on and on.We finally were back under the trees and walking along what appeared to be an old road. It obviously wasn't used much because of the large ruts and rocks everywhere. The road seemed to go on forever too and I was getting sooo frustrated and tired. After going around yet another curve, I slammed my poles on the ground and yelled "Come on!!" and a few other choice words that I won't include here. Guthooks kept saying it was only .3 miles to the shelter. That was the longest .3 miles!!But finally, finally I saw the shelter! This shelter, the Chestnut Knob Shelter, is made of stone and completely enclosed on 4 sides and has a door too. Outside was a nice fire ring with logs around to sit on. Inside were 2 sets of bunk beds, a single bed, several windows, and a large picnic table in the center. Someone had drawn a fireplace on one wall, complete with red flames. There were several hikers hanging out or snoozing. David took off his wet shirt and sweatbands and I took off my Buff and we laid them on the logs outside to dry. There was a nice breeze blowing in addition to the sun. We then sat at the table inside and ate lunch. After lunch, David took a nap and I walked around. I checked out the privy. I laughed when I saw the toilet plunger. You would really have to be "talented" to plug up a privy so bad that they had to use a plunger on it! How would you even use a plunger on a privy? One of life's mysteries I guess.The other views were much prettier. They were of the valley called Burke's Garden. The valley is only 8 miles by 4 miles in size, has one road in and out, and only about 300 inhabitants. It is beautiful to look down upon, but I've heard the weather can be really harsh. Lots of snow in the winter and rarely above 80 degrees in the summer.We probably stayed about an hour and a half before heading out. The down was not too bad.We came to a dirt road, Walker's Gap. It had several campsites but we decided to go up to the ridge and look for one. We hiked up and were on the ridge when we noticed that the thunder in the distance was getting louder and more frequent. We came on a site and I said that we needed to make camp now. David suggested hiking another 1/2 hour or so but I insisted we stop. As we started to set up the tent, the wind began picking up. We just finished getting it staked down when the rain started. We threw ourselves and the packs into the tent when all hell broke loose! The thunder was right overhead! The lightening lit up the tent! The winds tore at the tent! In fact, the winds were so strong that the tent was laying flat down on us. We had to lay at the bottom of the tent with our arms straight up in the air, holding the tent poles up because the tent kept collapsing. This went on for about half an hour. The winds finally slowed enough that we didn't need to hold the top of the tent off our heads. We pulled out our sleeping pads and blew them up, changed into our camp clothes, ate a cold meal, and, tried to sleep. David asked if he should hang the bear bag and i told him I didn't think even the bears would come out in this storm. We talked to several hikers later that had gotten caught in the storm. They said there really wasn't any place to hunker down. They just tried to find a bush or large rock to squat next to and wait it out. Then they called for a shuttle at the next gap.Hiked 11.2 miles today.