Day 187
Start: Big Wilson Stream
End: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles Hiked: 16.5
Miles on AT: 2108.9
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The morning started off rainy and the day continued that way until I went to sleep. The rain started light enough. As I packed my things up, it had just started to sprinkle. I waded across the mercifully slow and shallow water crossing and woke right up as my Croc-covered feet froze in the icy water.
As I climbed and passed the shelter I had planned to stay at last night, the rain picked up. Despite putting on all of my rain gear, it was apparent that I would not stay dry today. The rain came down in buckets, drenching everything and leaving no place for reprieve. The only way for me to stay warm was to keep hiking, so that’s what I did.
After a few miles of slogging it in the rain, I finally reached Long Pond Stream Lean-to, where I could get out of the rain and have an early lunch. There wasn’t going to be another good place to stop for a while if the rain kept up like this, so I took advantage of it. There, I met an ex-American Canadian hiker who was out finishing up his thru hike that he had started over 10 years ago. We chatted over lunch as I attempted to warm up and eat. He’d been a late season hiker back then, too, and had to quit at the NH-ME border due to the weather. He had already conquered Katahdin a few days prior, but wanted to do the Hundred-Mile Wilderness and Katahdin going NOBO.
As I listened, I shivered; it was soooooo cold! The problem was that I was warm while hiking, but once I stopped, I turned into an icicle. The sweat, rain, and low temperatures were not a good combination. A couple of other weekend hikers also showed up at the shelter, so we had a full house.
A few minutes later, though, I saw my window of opportunity. The sky had lightened up a little bit and it seemed like the only “rain” I heard came from dripping trees. I was going to try to get up the next mountain as fast as I could before the rain started again.
I said my goodbyes and got moving. I was right, the rain had slowed down, and I had a good 30 minutes of rain free hiking before it started up again, slowly at first, but then more fervently. As I gained elevation, the temperatures dropped and I really got cold. “Just keep moving, just keep moving,” I repeated to myself.
Just after the summit of Barren Mountain, I contemplated taking a break at the Cloud Pond Lean-to, but it was 0.3 miles off trail (too far!) and I knew it would be just as cold at the shelter as it was where I was standing. I needed another layer on, so I painstakingly got my pack off my shoulders, got my fleece, and put it on under my rain jacket. My hands were so cold that I could barely move my fingers. My thumbs weren’t cooperating as I tried to open a Snickers bar, so after several attempts, I had to use my teeth. I couldn’t stand around too long because I was getting drenched and getting colder, so I took my snack to-go.
On top of the mountain, I sloshed through puddle after puddle. The trail was a river with all of the rain that had fallen in the last few hours. Between the rain and my sweat, nearly every article of clothing I had on was soaked. My fleece was still keeping me warm, but I knew the outside of it was soaked.
I kept moving and the rain kept falling. At a certain point, I gave up fighting the rain and just embraced being soaking wet. So I had to sit on a wet rock to eat a snack while it got soggy? Whatever, I would take it. Needless to say, there were absolutely no views today. But, I did pass the 2100-mile marker (wooo!) and a cool plane crash site (the father-son pilot team survived), so my day was brightened a bit.
When I got into camp, the sun had just fully set and the shelter was completely full. It was still pouring rain, so I had to set up my tent while attempting to keep most of my things dry (which was almost impossible). The water source was down a steep slope, which was not easy to navigate in the dark while it was pouring rain. Tonight wasn’t fun at all, but once I had gotten my things arranged and exchanged my wet clothes for my dry sleep clothes, I was much happier. I went to sleep grateful for a dry quilt, dry clothes, and a waterproof shelter.
And that’s day 187.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.