I wake at 7 am. The rain has been pouring all night and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. I originally set up my tarp and hammock broadside in the wind, to prevent wind and rain from coming in through the end of the tarp. However, the wind shifted dramatically and started barreling in from the foot end of my tarp. The tarp has full-sized doors at either end, but I need to rig them to close a little tighter in the future. I sacrificed my backpack to the rain, hanging it on the foot end of my hammock in order to block the rain and wind. It is now drenched and will probably weigh an extra couple pounds, but I stayed warm and dry.
With the amazing 5G service, I check the NOAA app to see the cell over us is colored red and yellow, but there will be a very brief break in the rain in a couple hours. I decide to hang out until then, then pack up. I am still going to get drenched on the hike off the mountain, but at least my down can stay relatively dry.
I look out again and see GG is stuffing her tent into her pack. She comes over and says she is done and out of here. I offer to make room under my tarp so she can hang out for a little while, but she declines and takes off. I'm not sure if she is done with today or done with the trail. We have an agreement that if one of us gets injured, we will leave together. On the other hand, if I bail because the suffering is too great, then I will meet her in Damascus, but if she bails, she will have to wait for me in Damascus or figure out how to get home on her own. I hope she isn't done for good but can't do anything about it now. So, I return to my hot chocolate and morning news.
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| GG leaving camp in the pouring rain |
Right on time, at 9 am, the rain changes from heavy downpour to light sprinkles, so I walk down trail to filter water and pack up. The benefit of waiting is a slight increase in temperature to high 40's.
While I pack, I banter with the couple in the tent next to my hammock. We talk about how a shitty day of hiking is still better than a great day at work. They are going to stay tucked in until tomorrow. They are down to nothing but Payday candy bars to eat. I joked I regret eating my Spam, because I would have gladly traded it for a Payday. He insists I take a Payday anyway and tosses one to me. I proclaim that this is the "best day ever," before hoisting my pack and heading down the trail. Little bird sits on a rock on the trail and is nonplussed by me walking by.
Too soon, I leave the shelter of the trees to mount the next bald. The wind is quartering straight into my face and the gusts threaten to push me off balance. The cold rain droplets sting my face, which is already red and windburned from the winds yesterday.
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| No View Today |
I am wearing all my layers, including my wool sleeping clothes. Usually, a no-no. I don't worry if they get wet since I can put on dry loaner clothes once I get to the hostel. I am just trying to stay warm, but the weather makes it difficult. I hope the wind abates once I crest Hump Mountain ( elevation 5500 feet) but it intensifies as I make my way over the ridge.
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| Hump Mountain, TN |
I am drenched inside and out. The "breathable" rain jacket thing only works when you are not sweating. Right now my layers are keeping me warm through heat conservation, but they also serve as a vapor barrier. I am warm enough while I keep moving. The thought of a roof over my head and a hot shower motivates me to hustle up and over the hill. I finally reach the tree line, and I think I have been hiking for what feels like a long time. I have been hiking for 45 minutes! I enjoy being in the shelter of these small trees.
The rain is still heavy, so I don't dare take out my phone to look at the map or take pictures. The trail becomes steep and rocky, the rocks slippery from the water, which is running down the middle. In the patches of mud between the rocks, I can see the the marks where hikers before me (GG, one of them) slipped. I keep my head down and pay attention where to step.
I pass a group of six with packs that look new. They have things tied to the outside of their packs in a way that indicates they are not very experienced. They don't look very happy, and have to walk very slowly down the trail. I imagine this is not the experience they hoped for when they decided camping on the AT would be a fun Memorial Day weekend adventure.
The trail levels off and a sign announces we have left North Carolina for good. Two states down, 12 to go! I don't celebrate, since I am so wet that I will get cold if I stop, so I keep walking down the hill. I walk parallel to a stream for some time before I reach 19E. This would have been a beautiful hike without the weather!
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| Leaving North Carolina for good |
I should take out my phone and look at the map, but it's still pouring. I see other people walking to the left, so I guess that's the way I need to go as well. We mailed our packages to Station 19E: a brew pub and restaurant with a hostel next door. We originally planned to stay in the hostel, but after talking to other hikers who absolutely raved about the inn and the huge homestyle breakfasts, we ended up making reservations for a private room at Mountain Harbor Hostel. I prefer a private room over a bunk room any day!
I see a sign for Mountain Harbor, stating the Inn is .2 miles away. I thought I would see Station 19E as well, but maybe it's farther off the trail than I thought. We need to get our resupply, but I am so cold and wet that I really need to get to the hostel and take off these wet clothes first, then worry about where the Station is later. There is no cell service to call GG, but I am certain that is what she is thinking as well. The risk of hypothermia is real, and rewarming is more important than the food boxes.
I make it by 1:30pm. I check in and ask if GG is here. The proprieties says she hasn't checked in yet. I ask how where to find The Station: it was a right and not a left! I asked if I could get a ride to 19E. She said they would normally shuttle, but they are closed today. There is still no cell service for me to call her. I am shown to our room just off the kitchen of the hostel.
I quickly get out of my wet clothes and log on to the wi-fi and I am finally able to see GG tried to reach me. I call her and she answers crying. She is at 19E and she is still in her cold and wet hiking clothes and I can hear her teeth chattering as she tells me. Geez, she must have been sitting there for two hours! Someone on the premises unlocked the hostel so she could collect our boxes and wait inside until she figured out what to do. She asked a couple who day -hiked off the trail about the same time for a ride, but the couple in the car refused, probably because she is wet, disheveled, and very muddy.
I advise her to eat something to help warm her and try to get out of her clothes. "See if you can find some loaner clothes," I encouraged. I told her I will get there as soon as I can and will help her carry her stuff back to Mountain Harbor.
I dumped everything out of my soaking backpack and don my dripping rain gear on over the loaner clothes from the hostel. Literally the only thing left in my pack that is dry is my heavy wool sleep socks. Over these I tuck my feet into plastic Dollar General shopping bags I find in the kitchen. This makes putting on my dripping, cold hiking shoes a little easier.
I go back out in the driving rain and hike the mile up the road to The Station. The hike is uphill, but at least the rain isn't driving in my face. I get to the hostel fifteen minutes later to see GG at the top of the stairs. She is so happy to see me and I am relieved to find she doesn't appear in extremis! It's cold in the hostel; they have the lights and heat off because no one is here. We hug and I load up my backpack with our resupply and we head back to Mountain Harbor.
We make it back and both enjoy nice, hot showers. There is usually a food truck open at night, but it's closed and will reopen tomorrow, so we order dinner from a local Mexican restaurant and buy a couple of tall boy IPA's from the hostel store, which is nicely appointed for it's size. There is a hostel cat here who loves to elicit attention from the hikers, and Jasper is here! We hang out with George and J-13 in the cozy hostel common area. Namaste and Namago are here, as are Hillbilly and Kermit. We catch up and enjoy being warm, safe, and dry!
This hostel is adorable. While we have our own room with two single beds, we checked out the bunk room upstairs and it is one of the nicest I have ever seen in a hostel. The beds are individual, not bunks at all, and they have a balcony with a view of the pretty creek that runs alongside the building.
We are lights out by nine o'clock.
Todays stats: 7 miles (+2 bonus miles!), 700' gain
Trail Stats: 395 miles, 93k feet gain
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