Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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June 1, "Four Pines" - mile 683.8

The Lord works in great & mysterious ways today. As I write this, I am most comfortably reclined on a queen-size bed, with my own den, fireplace, television and bathroom. Not only that, I am clean & my stomach is full. I can't imagine being more appreciative than I am right now! But this story starts much earlier today.

The rain started again this morning about 5AM, beating down on the roof of the shelter & making me glad I hadn't tented. Since we were fairly crowded in there, I waited until later to begin stirring. I hate to wake everyone else up at 6AM. which is inevitable when I have to pack up inside the shelter. So I waited until 6:30 to start rustling my endless plastic ziplocs and & later hit the trail for a planned 16 mile day in the rain.

Today's adventure was climbing "Dragons Tooth" which the guidebook says is a "spectacular rock outcropping" although I wouldn't know since fog limited visibility to about 25 feet. It was a challenge struggling up the steep, rocky trail to get there, but getting down was even worse. I think we got a taste of what the northern mountains will be like, actually. Every step was a tricky calculation to get down & over huge, slippery boulders & navigate 6 inch ledges on the edges of sheer cliffs. I used a couple of techniques I learned while caving last summer, namely, keeping 3 points of contact at all times, & leaning into all the cliffs while I slid down them. My knees took a huge beating, getting down all the rocks & I am really sore tonight.

At 4:30, I finally reached the road crossing that I was aiming for & I headed down .3 mile to the convenience store to pick up some supper & extra snacks since I seem to go through them like crazy lately. While I was there. I resorted to calling the B&B a mile down the trail to see if they had room for the night. Even though it was expensive, I was willing to spring for it, because I was so wet & tired. But I got their answering machine that said they were booked until mid June , so I sighed & hung up thinking I would just get out of sight down the trail & put my tent up, since it seemed like the only alternative. I called Tony to say hello & while we were on the phone, the heavens opened & it just poured. I was so depressed! After we hung up, I wandered back into the store as a last resort & asked the guy working if he knew any place dry where I could stay. To my surprise, he said, "Yeah, I live just down the road & I have a garage where I let hikers stay". I couldn't believe it! he called his wife to pick me up on her way home, & since I was the only one there for the evening, they actually gave me the downstairs instead of the garage. Not only that, they fed me an incredible supper & invited me to watch a movie, while I hung out on the couch with some ice packs. I have never felt so thankful in all my life! Joe & Wanda Mitchell are first-class trail angels, & I'm so glad I met them.

June 2, Lamberts Meadow Shelter - mile 699.9

Finally - a day of hiking without rain pouring down! The funny thing is, my feet got wetter hiking through those soaking wet cow pastures this morning than they did hiking in rain all day yesterday. After an hour of shuffling through all that wet grass, I actually stopped to wring out my socks, which helped a little bit. My feet are still wrinkled, soggy nubs tonight, but they'll recover in a couple hours.

Today was pretty special, as I climbed both McAfee Knob & Tinker Cliffs, both with specular views of all the surrounding mountains, as well as each other. McAfee Knob was an anvil shaped rock that seems suspended in mid-air - it's incredible. The Tinker Cliffs are also incredible; sort of like half a mile of continuous McAfee Knobs & a lot less people. After days & days of hiking under foliage and/or cloud & or fog cover, it was a wonderful change to be out on the open cliffs & to see for so many miles.

Tonight I'm taking my chances by staying inside the shelter, even thought the log is full of references to the resident rat, which is reputed to be of great size & poor disposition. But I'm here with "Stormin' Norman", who's retired military, so we've agreed that he'll lead the attack & I'll follow orders if the rat appears tonight. The main reason we're inside is that the sky is promising rain tonight & we want to stay day. I guess we'll find out by morning if the gamble is worth it.