Cave Mountain Shelter, VA to Matt’s Creek Shelter, VA: Daily miles 29.6, Total miles 773.0
If I let the weather stop me from doing what I want I would never do anything. It poured rain almost all day. The kind of rain that makes you so wet your bones get soggy. Woke up after a great night’s sleep. The rain had been constant all night and the drumming on the tin roof made for good sleeping. But the rain made it tough to get motivated in the morning. It’s hard climbing out of a warm sleeping bag and a dry shelter into a cold downpour. I was awake at 6:30 am but didn’t hit the trail until almost 9, just hoping that the rain would, by some miracle, stop. It didn’t. It rained until 4 pm. It was cold, 55 degrees, and all of the rocks on the trail (they were plentiful) were really slippery. Went under The Guillotine , which is a big boulder that hangs above the trail. It was kind of cool. I bid farewell to Mike and Hampton for a while. They stayed at the shelter behind me to meet Hampton’s girlfriend, who came for his birthday tomorrow. It’s tough leaving them, I really enjoyed hiking with them, but I have to move on to meet my parents and Hannah, which is a really sunny spot on my horizon. Plus I will see them in a week or so when they catch back up. Got to the shelter about 7:30 pm to find it empty, but someone had left a bunch of soda and a bag of apples. The soda did me no good as I don’t drink it, but the apples were awesome. Fresh fruit is one thing that I really crave out here because I can’t get it when I want it. I dream of apples and oranges when I hike, so I was super excited. It is weird being alone in this shelter. This is the first time I’ve had a shelter to myself. It’s nice because I can sprawl out and not worry, but it’s kinda spooky. The shelter is on a roaring creek that is really relaxing. All the streams and creeks are swollen from the rain and none have bridges, so that’s been interesting. Feeling good after almost 30 miles. Not too sore. Mentally a little lonely after leaving my hiking partners of 2+ weeks, but really excited about seeing my parents in 5 days and Hannah in 7. I really enjoy being out here, even on days when it pours rain all day and there aren’t any views and there aren’t any funny stories. This really is living the dream.
