Thursday March 31
Start - Hawk Mtn Shelter
Stop - Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles travelled 7.3
Last night I had the shelter to myself. at least till 1.:00am when an approaching thunderstorm drove Red Wing and Hopeful (a couple from Michigan) to the shelter. It was still pouring down rain when I woke up and the classic internal argument started: to go or to stay put in a dry place. The problem with arguing with yourself is that no matter what you decide, you still .lose the argument. Well for some reason I determined that valor was the better part of discretion and packed up and headed out to wade up the trail. Wading is the proper word because there were stretches where the water was 4 td 6 inches deep and flowing like a river.
When I packed I forgot to leave my lunch out and it was buried in the bottom of my pack where I couldn't get to it without getting everything soaked. Rather than do that I was resigned to a hungry day.
Things took a turn for the better when I got to Horse Gap and spied a white Eurovan. The owner said, ".There looks like a hiker in need of food." ..It turned out to be Cimmeron a hiker who likes to help other hikers when he himself is not hiking. Came away with some candy bars, not exactly a lunch mom would approve of but they sure hit the spot.
Stopped raining about 3:00 and I took a break and had a second lunch. Sat on a very wet rock to eat but I figured that my behind couldn't get any wetter than it was.
Made it in at 4:30
Posted by at March 31, 2005 06:02 PM