We hoped to avoid it, but rain was coming. It was supposed to arrive around 6a. At 5:20a Warthog and I woke up and broke down camp. Just as everything was packed up and rain gear was on, the bad weather started. Bad weather, but good timing.
Warthog and I left camp alone. Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey needed to catch up on some sleep they had lost the previous night. Plus, last night, they kept waking up to the sound of deer playing in the woods. I said to Warthog, “The forests were really busy last night.” Then Wonder Woman added that she imagined they were running laps around us, that’s what it sounded like.
Just after we left we hit a spot in the trail where a ladder was literally bolted and tied down to a rock ledge. I mean an aluminum extension ladder. I laughed out loud when we reached it. It was a creative solution I guess.
The rain was constant and cold. I was jealous of the Honeymooners who said they refuse to hike in rain. Their reasons? Why do it? It’s miserable, you don’t want to go through it, it takes forever for things to dry, your rain gear doesn’t really work anyways (no matter how expensive it is), and if it’s cold enough, it can be dangerous too. I agree with all of their points. I don’t want to walk in it either. However, we have a goal end date that family is planning on. We sort of need to hike. Besides, you were warm enough when you stayed moving. It was when you stopped that you got into a bit of trouble. We took three breaks through the day. The first was at Look Out Camp, a privately owned lodge/shelter that they allow thru-hikers to use. The second was on the side of the trail for lunch. At least during lunch the rain had stopped and we had sort of dried a bit. The third was so Warthog could run down the street for a soda and snacks. I sat on a bench looking out at a river with our backpacks while he did this. It allowed for my feet to rest and for him to have a soda – the perfect compromise.
It would continue to rain off and on all afternoon. The weather made for some amazing scenery. I wanted so badly to take photos, but didn’t want to risk ruining my camera. One spot we walked through had dark trees with the white AT trail blaze (the way the trail is marked) painted on their bark. Just behind them were white birch trees with their own dark marks. The contrast between the white and dark and dark and white was fantastic. I sat there for a minute trying to burn the image in my brain. Now I wished I had risked the camera. Yet, there is a part of me that thinks maybe the memory alone is enough. There’s something precious about having a memory in your head for yourself. It’s something that can’t fully be shared with another person like a photo can be. This is mine and mine alone. Even what Warthog recalls will be different than what I do. To me, that’s precious.
We were only hiking about sixteen miles today. Since we left so early, Warthog and I arrived at our site around 4p. We could have kept hiking, but we had told Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey we would wait for them here. Also, our whole bodies were so exhausted that an early night in sounded amazing. We still got a full day of hiking in. We just also got some extra hours in camp. It allowed me to catch up on some journaling, rest my legs a bit, and most importantly, dry off.
Photo Above: Warthog filtering water.
-ansel