Date- Wednesday 6/1/05
Start- Watuga Lake Shelter
Stop- Vandeventer Shelter
Miles Travelled- 6.8
If I were in town this morning, I would have stayed there. My mom had a term for this weather, "just plain nasty".
The wind started last night when I was awakened by the sound of branches hitting the shelter roof and it was unrelenting all day.
The temperature never got out of the fortys, it rained lightly all day, and I was in a cloud so thick that I couldn't see my feet at times. Finally, I'm on an open ridge with no escape from the constant 30-40 mph wind. The ground, when I can see it looks like fall because there are so many leaves on the ground. Only, these leaves are green.
I reached this shelter at around 2:00. I originally planned to pass it up but then I reconsidered. This shelter is situated such that it is out of the wind and the wind may be blowing into the next one. There is room for me here and that may not be the case at the next one. Finally, I don't know if I have the strength to fight this wind for another 6 hours.
All things considered, I decided to stop here for the day.