We got up closer to our normal time at 7:20. It had rained quite a bit in the evening, but cleared up over night. It was overcast now but rain didn’t look imminent. In other words, good hiking weather. Gnome said he was tired and didn’t think he had a 17 mile day in him. Yesterday’s early rise was taking its toll on us.
In order for us to have a chance to make it to Devils Backbone Brewery tomorrow night, we had to make at least 17 today. Bunny and Gnome decide that a leisurely stroll was on the agenda for the morning. It took us almost 3 hours to make it to Hog Camp Gap where we were supposed to make it yesterday. I knew Bunny was worried about her kids and she usually slows way down when she’s preoccupied with them. By noon, I was getting peeved with our lack of speed. I heard Bunny say she just wanted to slow down and enjoy the trail. I lost it. I said I was taking off and walking by myself since I couldn’t stand 1 mph hiking. I didn’t know she was talking to Gnome. I had forgotten he told me he was not feeling up to today.
We ended up letting Gnome fall behind and told him we would meet him at the next water source in 3 miles. When we got to the creek, we were both out of water and tired beyond belief. We just sat in the middle of the trail to eat and drink. Rampage, who hikes 25-30 miles per day in crocs (she claims they are off-road design) came by for water. So did Half Moon who is walking with Savage, Po, and Spartacus. They both told us they had passed Gnome about 1/2 mile back and he was dragging.
We waited until he caught up before we started to pack up. He told us he was stopping at the next shelter in 5 miles. We said we head there and wait if it wasn’t too late. I was still wanting to get as close to 17 miles in as we could.
At Seely-Woodworth Shelter, we waited for close to a half hour and Gnome still didn’t show up. Even though the clouds were darkening up, we decided to push on another 6.5 miles to the next shelter. Within two miles, it was raining.
With umbrellas donned, we kept moving. When we got up to Spy Rock, Savage and their group had set up camp because they didn’t want to get caught in another downpour today. We climbed to the top to check out the view and got an eye full of the storm headed our way. We still had almost 4 miles to go. We might get in before dark, but not before rain.
Rampage passed us like we were standing still. Mainly because we were standing still talking to Savage and playing with Spartacus. We didn’t get to Priest Shelter until nearly 8. We had been walking in the rain most of the way, but we caught a break while we set up camp. The shelter was full, but plentiful camping was available. We managed to get all done and in bed before the rain started.
EFG
Been getting all caught up! It’s crazy because even though our thru hike was 7 years ago (holy cow!!), all the memories come flooding back like it was yesterday. Hope the temps cool a bit for you as you keep plugging North!
I’m glad you’re reading all this. I wonder if I’m overdoing the blog.