Day 57 – Mistakes were made

Denial

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain in my tent at 6am. Rain chances this morning were low with little accumulation predicted. So I went back to bed waiting for it to pass. I woke up again at 7:30 am, still raining, I rolled over hoping it would stop. At 8:30 I woke up again, it was still raining.

Acceptance

At 9 in the morning I was forced to have to at least pack my bags in the rain. Slowly, meticulously, I packed up and was ready to start walking at 10am. It was still raining. Not only was it still raining, but it had increased in intensity. At this point I accepted that today was going to be wet.

On a normal day, the first kilometer of walking would have been fantastic. Nice dirt road that winds along Brown Mountain Creek. Very calm, very calm. I just had the added bonus of getting rained on too. However, after that mile, there was a big climb.

Climbing in the cold

The climb seems to take forever, 2,500 feet in 3.5 miles. As it climbed, the rain intensified and the temperature dropped. I started to really regret not wearing the rain jacket and following the idea that I’m going to sweat in the rain jacket and get wet anyway, so I might as well not wear it and just get wet with the rain on my t-shirt. As I approached the top of Bald Knob, I finally buckled up and put on my raincoat. I had a bit of service and saw that the temperature was in the high forties, which probably contributed to my discomfort. Not only did the temperature not increase as the day progressed, it actually dropped!

As I continued, I jumped between patches of fog and higher clear spots emerging from the fog/clouds. As I stayed higher, on Cole Mountain and Bald that followed, the winds began to change from cold and crisp to a little more humid and warm.

Can I get some sun?

The rain stopped shortly after and I promised that as soon as the sun came out, I would take a break and start drying my things. Less than 30 minutes later, the sun peeked out for a second but then slipped back behind the clouds. I started looking for places where I could set up my bear clothesline as a clothesline, running around as the sun began to burn through the clouds. Not knowing how long the sun would last, I finally stopped at a spot that wasn’t the best for resting but had some trees where I could hang my tent and clothes to dry. I stayed there for about an hour and a half and my tent dried completely and my clothes partially dried. It was around 4pm at this point and I had only covered 10 miles, which wasn’t the greatest progress today. But I packed my things and kept walking hoping to make it at least another 8 miles.

After the rain, the ferns were appearing!

After drying off a bit, the afternoon walk was much better. Not only did I feel more comfortable but it also gave me time for the plants along the trail to dry. Which means I didn’t really get wet from rubbing them for the rest of the day, which was a win. The terrain also became much easier with ups and downs and not the steep climbs I had this morning. I made pretty decent time, stopping only at Rock Spring to fill up on water before heading to Spy Rock Junction and the tent sites there for the night. While the day remained cool, the sun that came out in the afternoon was a big improvement from today.

Today is a quieter day, I only saw one person on the road all day. I’m sure, partly because of my late departure this morning, partly because some of the people I camped with last night went to Buena Vista today, and lastly, because I potentially went out in front of the bubble. I don’t know.

Statistics for day 57:

18.5 miles

5,509′ ascent, 3,071′ descent

Brown Mountain Creek Shelter to Spy Rock Junction

3DSLC…

Stove use times: 10

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.