ElizabethClose

June 20- Saw so Many ppl today. Silly stardust and longspoon. Mama bear and crew flew by on hill down to swimming hole. Weren't there when I arrived so I just ditched my boots and waded in. Feet to tender so I planked and then sat. Goner came and used sillys inner tube while longspoon lounged in hammock strumming ukulele. Coolness. 4 chubby ladies aged 10-60 all in bikinis sat in lawn chairs in shallows gossiping. Phoenix and healer came down and swam as I was leaving. Got to Bryant shelter and saw Deets there so I decided to stay. Strider came in about dark.

June 21- woke up at 4:30 and decided to get started on the 10
Miles of climb ahead of me. Two hikers had come in ovennight and one hung his hammock across the porch walkway. Forgot to fill up on water so ran dry again. Legs felt weak like my pack was 100lbs. After sucking down some pedialyte and food I perked up a little but it got VERY hot and the climb was steep. I passed on seeing apple orchard falls because it would add two miles to my day.. Sad! As I approached thunder ridge shelter 3;30 it was blowing and thundering and Deets was there. Made dinner and waited for storm to hit. It didn't come so I decided to head out at 4:30 and about 5:15 it started to pour. Crap! 3 miles later I came to a campsite with signs saying high bear activity. I decided to risk it and hung hammock, fly, bear bag and crawled into bed. 13.5 miles. So pathetic!!

June 22- woke at 4:30. Not raining so I struck camp and headed for the stream half mile up trail. Nice breeze all day and a lot of downhill trail. Got to James river by 2:30pm. Murky water so I decided against a swim. Little tributary half mile along was clear so I stopped and soaked my feet a few minutes. Got to shelter a few minutes into the thunder shower and cooked dinner while I waited it out. Thought I had done 16 miles already and thought maybe I could hit a 20. An hour later it cleared up so I got water and hit the trail again. 3 hours of climbing I got to cliffs and decided to camp and catch sunrise the next morning. Calculated mileage from wrong spot . I only did 16 miles.

June 23. Woke at 4 (I thought) and decided an early start would be good. Took down the rain fly and Checked my watch to see how long it took and it was only 3am ... Sheesh. Laid back down and started to drift off ... Thunder. ****. Do I rehang rain fly? Hope it passes? Bleaugh. Got up and tucked my gear in my pack and hammock and climbed back in. Laziness!! Aargh! More thunder! Better safe than sorry so I jumped up and threw the rain fly over the hammock and staked down the corners. 10 minutes later it started to pour. Drifted off to sleep and woke at 6. Still raining so I stayed put. At 8:30 rain Seemed to slack off but by the time I got dressed it was pouring again. I only had a pint of water and 6 miles to next available so I put my jetboil cup under a drip off the rain fly. It was full in just a few minutes so I kept it up. Made hot chocolate and filled my camelback. about 10:30 rain cleared enough to pack up. Kept raining off and on. Lots of thunder/lightening. About 1:30 I realized I had gotten turned around and was hiking south. Hours wasted! Got a little teary about it at first but it was a non-fatal mistake. Headed north again and shook it off. Almost constant thunder and rain through 5 pm. Met Johnny and Sam at BRP crossing waiting for a ride into buena vista . I asked if I could bum along but they weren't sure there'd be room. They said its supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I decided to find a good campsite just in case I decide to take a zero. Set up took a long time waiting for small breaks between downpours. craziest rain ever! 7 miles ( 10 actually, but only 7 count)

June 24. Got up at 5 and NO RAIN- woohoo!! My shoes were still soaking wet and my pants had fallen off the hammock ridge line. Nice way to start your day. I smeared desitin on my bum and legs to help protect against the moisture, took a deep breath, and pulled on my sopping wet COLD pants. It was only cold for a second LOL. Same procedure for shoes and wet socks. Granola was ambrosia as I hadn't cooked dinner and was hungry. Struck camp and headed to nearest spring. Met Eagle eye there. He took a zero yesterday in punchbowl shelter. Dumped out my tarp water and filled up with filtered spring water. About 10 minutes up trail it started to rain. Pulled hood out of packa and let my arms get wet. Short rain and not too hard. Stopped for lunch at shelter and guys there said it was supposed to rain again in afternoon. It did! As I was climbing a hill. Felt good and cool but it fogged my glasses , hard to see footing and I kept stumbling. Made it to top but didn't take pics of views cuz of cloudiness. Two miles along ridge was a nice bald in sunshine. I laid out clothes on rocks and let my pruney feet dry off. Two miles later a big field with a lot of hikers and a group of ham operators. Water was half mile down side trail but I had to fill up because it's 6 miles to next water. Up trail about half mile to clearing with couple good hammock trees and a view. Set up by 7:30 and crawled in just in time for more rain. Rains seems so much nicer from inside! 17 miles

June 25. Woke at 6 sunrise was cloudy but sweetly pink. Not hiking today so laid back down. Woke at 8:30 shrouded in fog. Hoped for some sunshine to dry my things. Txt Nelle. Aiming for Harper's ferry Friday July 8. Mile 1022. 200 miles from here. 17 miles a day except sabbath ought to do it.