Last night, I awoke around midnight to the loud staccato noise of raindrops on canvas. It rained all night. Lots of loud, wet, cold rain. All night. It was 30 minutes after I awoke this morning before I could convince myself that I cannot avoid the torture of dressing in the same damp cold clothes I wore yesterday (that’s right – I don’t change underwear every day on the trail. I cannot afford the mass or pack space.)
But even worse was the experience of putting on the wet socks and boots that filled with water from yesterday’s hike. My feet already had blisters on the heels and wet socks did not help.
The hike today was through a misty, cloudy forest. I passed plenty of rocky outcrops that surely looked out upon beautiful scenery, but today it was curtained by a sheet of bright grey mist. I was definately flying in IMC (look it up).
The hike through Woody Gap and on to Slaughter Creek campsites was a long wet 12.8 mile slog. I had intended to just camp there. But I knew that just on the other side of the 4410 foot high Blood Mountain was a dry, warm, hikers hostel. So, over Blood Mountain I go. After a 15.6 mile day, I very slowly eased myself into an upper bunk at the Walasi-Yi hostel. Without details, let’s just say the upper bunk is a real challenge to a sore, exhausted body.
