4/26- 220 miles
I was out of the shelter early, a heavy mist had settled in in the night saturating the trees and causing them to constantly drip. I was hoping for a clear day. I would pass by Charlie’s Bunion, a unique rock formation, and climb several mountains over 6000 feet. What happened next gave me the scare of my life.
In less than an hour the weather turned from mist to steady rain. The wind turned from a breeze to hurricane force, lightning crashed all around me, and it was getting cold. I hiked faster to try to stay warm and almost considered turning back for the shelter. The trail led higher into the mountains, sometimes crossing narrow gaps only a few feet wide, drop-offs of undetermined depths on both sides. The wind buffeted me with such force on the exposed ledges that I would crouch down and run to the other side. At one point, I paused behind a narrow ledge while lightning, high wind, and driving rain, turned the ledge into an obstacle I didn’t have nerve to cross. I must have waited 20 minutes before the fear of standing there and risking hypothermia outweighed the fear of crossing the ledge.
Charlie’s Bunion was obscured in fog and there was only one time the weather cleared enough to see more than a couple hundred feet.
I actually saw a tree blow over only a few feet away, and the trail was scattered with blow-downs for the rest of the day. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I was hit by golf ball size hail.
That sounds crazy! I’m glad I wasn’t with you for this segment, but it does sound exciting.