When I woke this morning it was cold(40’s) and raining hard. Today’s hike had only one climb gaining about 2000 feet and mostly a smooth trail. I was on my way by 6:45. I was sure the rain would stop, the temps would rise and I’d see some lovely sights. Okay, so none of that happened. The plan was a relatively easy 17 miles, half of it along the ridge line. By mid day, I thought I’d made a wrong turn. Seriously, it’s only in Vermont where one expects ankle deep water running down hill in the trail. Again, no visibility and I’m sure that’s why I missed the loading ramp for Noah’s Ark. Well, since I missed the Ark, I just kept walking. It was raining so hard I couldn’t see any reason to try to eat a candy bar for energy. I was getting close to the shelter by around 4 and almost walked past it although it was at the edge of a hay pasture 100 meters away. As I approached, I could see 10 other hikers sitting, knees to chest, heads down shivering. I felt the same- I was wet everywhere and I mean that literally. Even with rain jacket, pants and hat everything was wet from outside, rain, or inside, from sweat. I sat and shivered. After a few minutes a real spectacle appeared from the rain and fog. A hiker wearing short shorts, socks and shoes. I thought he was crazy and asked if he was okay, making sure he was not suffering from hypothermia- he assured us he was fine and that was all he ever wore when hiking. He asked if we could make room? I wasn’t going to say no because he must either be crazy or? We all started talking and found out he was special ops Army Ranger on a weeks leave, out for a section hike. He said he didn’t mind the cold and would control his shivering so he wouldn’t keep anyone up at night. God Bless our troops. We ended up with 9 hikers and Goofy, a cool dog hiker, in our 6 person shelter. There was a lot of shared personal space, but I’m sure it helped keep us warm even though we were all wet.
By morning what wasn’t soaked was damp and heavy, but that’s hiking the AT.
Whistler signing off until hitting town tomorrow
Comments