May 15, 2017 Our first day! So much mud.
Wonder how we will get clean again. Lots of elevation, but the hiking poles
helped. Got to our campsite at 5:45 pm. Jet is being a good dog and
actually got tired!! Hard but successful day. I am not scared or
worried. Beautiful, sunny and warm today.
Days
of Rain
It
started raining on day two and didn’t stop completely until day sixteen. Yep,
you read that right. With nighttime temps in the thirties, and sometimes
only mid-forties during the day, we had to be extra careful to not succumb to
hypothermia; carefully layering on all of our clothes and lining our packs with
plastic so that our very valuable 15 degree sleeping bags and tent would stay
dry. If we hadn’t been able to, daily, hop into our warm bags after
setting up our tent in driving rain, we would have faced actual freezing…of our
skin, our blood, and our minds.
May 17, 2017 Day 3. We have seen no people or any sign of human
existence for three days. It is very weird. We had a serious talk
about the possibility of an apocalypse. We have also had no cell service
for the entire time. Today’s trails were flatter than yesterday but so
many blow-downs that I felt like I was in an extreme adventure race. It
also started raining at 1 pm and never stopped. It is very cold.
Physically, I am doing well but am exceptionally dirty and stinky.
The last few days of rain have put a damper on fun and bathing.
Nights
of Rain
We
endured a driving rainstorm with gale force winds on our third night out.
We felt the temperature drop and the storm rising in late afternoon
(unluckily, Tess had chosen that day to wear her only pair of shorts) when we
were still two miles away from our chosen campsite. As the pelting rain stung
our faces, we hiked fast and hard, constantly scanning the environment for
anything that could serve as a shelter. Nothing. Earlier, we had seen on the
map, something that indicated that we might encounter an outhouse on the
trail--a rare luxury--and a viable, albeit tiny, shelter. We never found it.
When we finally arrived at the campsite, we quickly created a little shelter
for our dog, Jet, out of hiking poles and a big black garbage bag; he refused
to lay under it, and instead, stood bewildered in the rain as we set up our
tent in record time. Feeling sorry for ourselves—and him—we let the
drenched and pitiful creature in our dry tent and covered his shivering body
with more garbage bags while we snuggled down deep in our sleeping bags and
listened to music on my phone. We were so discouraged by our
circumstances that Tess grabbed a pop tart and I, a big cookie, and called it
supper. Then I pulled out my harmonica and attempted to play a song that
would drown out the tornado-like storm without (and our fear within). It didn’t
work. It was a very long night.
Onward
Christian Soldiers
The
next morning we lay awake and listened to the unceasing rain as we made a pact
to leave by 8 am, rain or shine (a pretty measly pact considering we had only
had shine for a few hours on our first day.) Our deadline came. The
rain continued. It was incredibly hard to get out of our warm sleeping
bags, put on wet clothes, go into the wet weather and fold up our wet tent
while our wet dog stood watching. But we did. And it was miserable.
No breakfast for us on day 4. This was not what we had planned, and
our spirits were beginning to plummet like the pouring rain.
We
decided to go as fast as we could (so we wouldn’t freeze) and march on out of
that wretched wet place. I told Tess that we had to remind ourselves of
the true story; we were out on an adventure together and we were alive and it
was good. God had so far protected us. We sang every hymn we could remember
that morning to help us to think rightly. We needed to be thankful and not
discouraged. We covered 12 miles by lunch. Thereafter, we referred to
that time as “The day that shall never be spoken of.”
May 18, 2017 Day 4. Last night was really scary with lots of wind
and pelting rain. Everything was wet and SO cold. Thanks God for keeping
us safe today. No supper last night. No breakfast this morning.
I was super tired and worn out today. Tess is being very patient with me.
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