August 12 - Long Wet Day

August 12 - Long Wet Day

It's 9:20 pm and I am waiting for dinner to rehydrate. In the meantime I've had a snort of Kentucky Bourbon to settle the nerves. 

The last six miles into camp took a while, but it was either hike downhill those six miles at the very end of the day or do it in the morning. After a long wet slow Saturday it seemed to make more sense to get to the bottom of the next 3000 foot climb and hope it doesn't rain Sunday, making the trek uphill in the cool of the morning. 

I managed to make it to the top of the mountain before the drizzle set in. By the time it was raining I was already wet and getting wetter every minute. The trail down was overgrown with ferns and other plants after a fire devastated the slope years ago. Every plant laid a new layer of mist on me, and even though it wasn't raining hard I was soaked to the bone. 

At the bottom of the hill I decided to break for lunch at a campsite close to a stream. The site was under huge trees and relatively dry, so I took off my wet shirt, shoes, and socks, put on my jacket, and made a hot lunch of spicy ramen and hot tea. That was enough to power me up the next 3000 foot climb. To top it off, I added cheese chunks to the ramen and ate a Heath bar with the tea. Yum! And best of all, the rain stopped, the sun came out, but it remained cool. Yea!

Today I covered 24 miles, but very slowly. The up and down elevation change totaled 5500 feet up and 5000 feet down. I'll sleep well tonight. 

Clouds moving it as I climb to the top of the ridge. 

More clouds appear. 

The streams started running pretty heavily. 

Finally, the smoke is clearing!

I'm camping somewhere down there! 7 pm and three miles to go. 

Hikingsolo (aka Allen)