We awake to pouring rain, a deluge that would last all day and into Tuesday night…the added bonus, chilly temps…ask Joel how he slept on the picnic table…my sleep was most excellent…warm bag and my Big Agnes blow-up air mattress!  Today’s hike begins at 3760 feet…destination Carter Gap Shelter…12.1 miles, 8 hours. To give you some perspective on the distance, it would be like walking from my house to the Ozark Walmart or the northside Walmart in Dothan minus the ever changing elevations.  Regarding the rain I have two choices, I can be wet and miserable or just wet…I chose to be “just wet”…no one made me do this…no arm twisting, I truly love the experience of hiking the AT no matter the weather or terrain….that’s part of the challenge…you never know what’s around the next turn…so why not make the best of it and have some “fun.” I carried a backpackers poncho (used my built in rain fly to cover my pack)…covers the hiker and his backpack…chose not to wear it today…reason, I am hot by nature and sweat profusely, afraid of overheating and losing fluids…dumb…I carried more than enough to drink, two 1 liter bottles with my favorite lemon/lime gatorade mix…you live and learn…given the choice again I would definitely wear it…another lesson learned!  FYI, the AT is nicknamed the “Green Canopy” which did protect me somewhat from the rain. After about 3 hours, we stopped at Big Spring Shelter for lunch, rest and a break from the rain, felt good to get the pack off the back & shoulders…5.3 miles down…”Albert Mountain” elevation 5220 feet is waiting…

Joel’s backpack (Pre-trip)

Breakfast at Michelle’s Restaurant

Sausage, Gravy, and Biscuits

Our 3rd backpacking journey on the AT began early Monday morning October 10, 2011. My son-in-law Joel stopped by my house to pick me up at 4AM on the way to Mike Elmore’s where we joined  Mike and Danny Johnson. Chuck Barnard would meet us at the Hardees In Abbeville…destination Winding Stair Gap NC. The last two years we left for the AT after the evening church service, drove most of the night and started early. We are hiking north to south this year, ending where we ended last year, Dick’s Creek Gap GA…approximately 40 miles in 6 days was the original plan, however, two 12 mile days cut it to 5 days, ending on Friday morning. We stopped for breakfast at Michell’s Restaurant in Eufala…our last real meal until Friday…I give Michell’s 5 stars…definitely making a return trip there for some good eats! Driving through overcast skies and some rain, we dropped Chuck’s car off at Dick’s Creek and drove to Winding Stair where we began the hike about 1:30PM…no rain…yet…heading to Rock Gap Shelter 4.8 miles. We would climb from 3750 to 4300 feet before descending to 3760 feet at Rock Gap. Our plan was to stay in our tents all week…less noise…no mice and other critters…more about the mice later… but because of the rain we stayed in shelters…3 sided lean-to structure with a cooking and sleeping area. Arriving at Rock Gap about 4PM we discovered it was a dry camp…NO WATER! It had been a dry summer and early Fall so several of the water sources along the trail were dry. This would be the only dry camp, the rest had plenty of water…we would also share the shelter with two men from Huntsville AL, Ron and Robin…we crammed 6 into the shelter’s sleeping area…Joel spent the night on the picnic table…his choice…there was room…”quieter” he said…We had passed a spring with good flow coming out of the mountain about a mile back…Chuck, Joel and myself took all of our water bottles, a 5 gallon bag and 2 gallon container back to the spring to refill…I learned my lesson from out first year about the importance of hydrating…the mile back to camp was a killer!!! We set up camp…ate supper…I enjoyed Mountain House dehydrated chicken and rice. Joel shared devotions and after some fellowship we crawled into our bags about 8PM…ready for some z’s…I drifted off to the sound of the rain as it hit the tin roof of the shelter…