Last night I woke up to a real nasty rain storm. At first I heard it amping up and thought how beautiful it sounded. Then it quickly got uncomfortable. And I’m not one that is scared of storms. Thunder crashed so loud, I could physically feel it. Wind ripped across the tent.
Lightning was so bright, I would go blind for a few seconds. Rain was somehow occasionally spitting into the tent. For a bit, the bottom of our tent was like a waterbed. I thought to myself, “this is exactly what all of the people that I love is worried about!” I started to get pretty scared. But what can you do? You can’t leave. At that moment I remembered a section from the Book of Common Prayer that the staff at South Harbor Church would work through together:
“May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.”
I kept repeating that over in my head, “protect you through the storm … protect you through the storm.” I immediately felt much better. I’m not sure when the storm broke. Someone said no later than 1a. Everyone on that mountain was a little bit shaken. One AT ambassador said to Ben, “Well, that’s a storm to live through.” Another told us, “That should be the worst storm you’ll see this entire hike.” I was relieved to hear that. I wondered how many would call it quits after that night. If I had less of a constitution, I may have considered it. But all is well, we are well.
Today we hiked about 12.5 miles. It wasn’t too bad, A few real tough spots. So far my body is responding well. I haven’t taken Ibuprofen yet. I want to avoid it if I can.
Right now we are camped at Coopers Gap. It’s a campsite (no water or privy) right near a dirt road. There are 4 tents here, including ours, with a total of 5 people. “Bear Bait” a 40(ish) man from Nashville, Pier an interpreter from Montreal, and the last guy who is a 50(ish) man from west of Wisconsin.
I’ve really enjoyed all of the people that we’ve met. There are many 50, 60, 70+ people who are out here attempting the trail and I find them to be an inspiration. Being in our early 30’s, it’s so much easier for Ben and I to interrupt our lives and take on the trail. But against the much greater physical obstacles than what we have, these people made the decision to attempt and plug away each day!
This morning on top of Springer was gorgeous. There was so much fog in the air from the storm. Everything was in a mist. So obviously I had to take photos.
There’s not too much to report. We met a lot of people. Saw a dog. Ate lunch at a waterfall and hiked. Lost our shutter button already (the one I bought Ben for Christmas – it’s so sad). The mountains are starting to see spring. The rhododendrons are budding and little green plants are pushing up form the ground. It’s a hopeful sight.
From our tent right now, I can see a mountain in the distance. It’s painted yellow from the setting sun. All of the mountains around it are in shadow and are in blue or purple. The warm/cool contrast is spectacular. The color palette of nature never never ceases to awe me.
Our site is also in shadow and it’s cold!! It’s 7:40p now and I’m exhausted. I’m going to catch up on messaging family and then crawl into bed!
-k