START LOCATION: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: US-220/Daleville, VA
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 9.4
TRIP MILEAGE: 719.1
MILES TO GO: 1,460.0
I awoke at 5AM and was instantly tuned into my surroundings. The air
in my tent felt like it had rained outside. I looked outside... Dry
ground. In any case, you could just feel rain was coming. It was still
pitch black outside, so I layed back and tried to rest until 6 when
the light starts creeping in, but I never fell back asleep.
At 6:15 I decided to make my move. I got together all my gear and
clothes within the tent and headed outside. I broke my tent down in
record time, glad it was all still dry. With everything packed, I
walked up to the shelter where my colleagues were packing up and
eating breakfast. I enjoyed my last packets of oatmeal and pop tarts.
I had a few laughs with them and some began to roll out. We decided
that the noise in the woods last night was deer. Walking Man East was
almost sure of it. I tended to agree.
As I put my food bag into my pack and hoisted it onto my back, I felt
it... Tiny drops of rain. It spit only for just a few seconds, but man
was I glad. Every thru-hiker's goal when we tent is to get our stuff
packed up while remaining dry as possible. So, when rain threatens, we
are always playing a game of beat the clock. I timed today's game
perfectly. I hit the trail at 8:10.
The pride I felt in my dry packing success was short lived. The rain
held off for a short while. But by 9:00 the flood gates opened up. I
hadn't seen rain like this on the whole hike. It poured like I was
beneath Niagara Falls. I hiked fast like this for about 90 minutes. It
eased up at 10:30 but by then it was too late. I was soaked through
and freezing. I was hiking so fast just to keep myself warm and limit
the amount of time I was spending in this awful weather. Plus, I knew
US-220/I-81 was coming up. I could either dry out, shower and do
laundry at the truckers stop or I could get a room and dry out in
luxury.
I went luxury, thru hiker style... Super 8 motel. I got the heavily
discounted hiker rate. It was heavenly. I did laundry instantly,
showered, ate, hit the outfitter, resupplied, ate again. I caught up
on some bills, chores, texts and phone calls. It was just what I
needed after getting completely drenched. I probably won't be this
lucky with future downpour events, but I'll take the luck when I can
get it.
-natedog
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