As dawn breaks, I wake to the pitter pat of rain on the roof of the shelter. I am expecting an all-day rain event, and Mother Nature is delivering. The bear stayed out of the shelter, and no further sightings are reported. Several people are packing, ready to head out in the rain to a shelter 12 miles up the trail. The weather report is up to three inches of rain to start this afternoon and continue overnight! Four people who stayed here last night have decided to zero here today, riding out the foul weather and continuing on tomorrow. A "zero" is literally zero miles.
GG, Gordon, and I mull over zeroing here today as well. The idea seemed good to me yesterday. Today, however, the idea of staying in this goldfish bowl for almost 36 hours is less than ideal. We have nothing to do except for what is downloaded on our phones. I have a power pack, but a day of using my phone will run it dry and I won't have it for later in this section. Plus, my short attention span and inability to sit in one place for more than a minute will be excruciating.
Moreover, if we zero today, we will have to hike extra miles over the next two days to meet Kelly on Sunday (in three days) at Newfound Gap. Mollie's Ridge to Newfound is 31 miles with over 8,000 feet elevation gain. I really hate gaining more than 3,000 feet in a day. It's torture on my body and spirit. Too much work takes the fun out of being one with nature.
I don't care how many miles we get in today. I just want forward progress of SOME kind, and to be tucked in before the rain gets bad. There are a lot of people on the trail out here, and the space will be tight in the shelters. The next shelter up the trail is Russell Field. It's only four miles away, which will only take 2 hours tops to get to. Unfortunately, it's closed due to bear activity. Recently, someone dropped off their backpack inside the shelter while filtering water nearby (which everyone on the trail does with some regularity, including me). The bear took the whole pack from inside the shelter!
The next shelter after Russell Field is Spence Field. I'm not sure why they are called "Field," as they are in the middle of the woods. At mile 184, Spence Field is only 2 miles past Russell Field. We can meander and lollygag to our hearts content and still get there well before the bad weather. Six miles and 1500 feet of elevation is almost like a zero day!
GG and Gordon pack while I have been looking over the map. We have whiled away at least two hours trying to decide what to do today. We agree to meet at Spence Field. Even if we stop for a meal, we should be there by 1 pm at the latest. The rain is light and steady. Hopefully we get a little break today at some point. Gordon is off first. GG departs close behind Gordon. I leave about 15 minutes after GG.
The rain is steady and at times fairly heavy, but the temps are around 60, so not too cold. This is the kind of weather you just put your head down and walk. With a cap keeping the rain from running into my eyes, and the rain jacket hood up to keep water from running down my back, I stare at the ground within ten feet of my feet, which is becoming decidedly more waterlogged . I listen to an audiobook via my headphones because my phone is wrapped in a ziploc bag inside my pack. I walk slowly to stretch out time.
Russell Field shelter is literally on the trail, ten feet to the west. Bears be damned, I decide a quick stop out of the rain is in order. A sign announces the shelter is closed. Hopefully the bears can read! I don't tarry long - just enough to enjoy a Larabar under the roof.
After another hour and a half, around one p.m., I see a sign pointing to the right announcing the turn to Spence Field Shelter in 0.2 miles. I veer off the AT, which at this point is resembling a small stream . I arrive at the shelter which has a nice, roomy covered area in front of the 2-story sleeping platforms. I see Gordon unloading his pack, staking out a spot on the bottom level. A couple is setting up their sleeping gear at the end, and another hiker is spread out sideways on the top level, taking an afternoon nap.
Getting ready to tuck in for the night takes about an hour. The water comes from a spring a tenth of a mile down the hill. A privy lay in a different direction from the shelter. I decide to filter water and eat lunch before I set up my sleeping area. While filtering water, I expect to run into GG. She must be hanging her food bag or visiting the outhouse.
The rain is coming down in earnest as I return to the shelter and start to set up my sleeping area, which means inflating my sleeping pad and covering it with my down top quilt. I am hit with the sudden realization that GG isn't there. I have been so focused on my tasks, it didn't register that I haven't seen her. I ask Gordon if he has seen GG.
"No," he responds. "I thought she was behind you." I feel a sinking in my chest.
"No Gordon, she left the shelter this morning before me. I just realized she wasn't here."
I start to panic. Where could she be?! There were no cross trails other than the blue-blazed water source at Russell Field Shelter, so she couldn't have taken a wrong turn. I guess she must have missed the turn to Spence Field and must have continued on the trail. What should I do? We have absolutely NO cell service here. We both have a Delorme InReach satellite communication device, but she doesn't know how to use it to share her location with me.
More people are coming in, almost all are hiking south. They are reporting worsening conditions north of the shelter. The rain is now in sheets, with limited visibility. The famous Rocky Top mountain is the next hill to climb on our trek north from the shelter. I ask everyone who arrives if they have seen a short lady with long braids heading north. Thankfully, they all answer in the affirmative.
"Sure, I saw her a mile north of here." says the first couple.
That means she is two miles away, at least. Do I pack up and try to go after her? Rocky Top has to be nuts in this storm right now. Do I risk my safety to try to catch up? Does she know that she passed the shelter? Maybe she didn't want to stop and she felt like hiking more today. Will she recognize the potential danger of hiking a ridge in a storm? Will she hunker down in her tent until the danger passes?
I am stressing out like crazy! My heart tells me to pack up and continue hiking, but my head tells me to stay put. I eat with no enthusiasm, worrying about my friend potentially lost in the Smokies.
More people arrive and report seeing her farther north. It's getting dark and she has to be close to the next shelter by now. I keep checking my phone in case I get a signal. Gordon asks if we should call 911. I reply that this isn't an EMERGENCY, as someone missing the turn isn't a reason to call 911. After some mulling over, I come up with a plan. I will get up and on the trail quickly tomorrow. If we arrive at the next shelter and she isn't there and hasn't signed into the shelter register, I will then alert the authorities Side note: each shelter has a notebook and pen in a box or ziploc bag where visitors can sign in. Often, hikers draw pictures or write a bawdy poem. The shelter logs allow hikers to see how far they are from other people they may know.
The shelter is getting very crowded with smelly hikers trying to get out of the rain. We are packed in the two levels, and with every new hiker rounding the corner we slide closer to our neighbor. There are a couple people who still have their belonging spread beside them. More hikers show up and decide to set up camp beside the shelter. Four men show up with packs twice the size of ours. They are weekend hiking the Smokies and they have reservations. This means they get first dibs on sleeping in the shelter and can kick out the non-reservation campers. They announce that if we don't make space, someone will be kicked out. The space hogs relent and move over. We now have about 18 bodies packed in like sardines in a shelter meant for 12-14.
I go to sleep, restless with the anxiety that my friend may be out there all alone!
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