My epic campsite was still epic in the morning and with the sunrise it was probably even better. I made my way down to the trail, excited at what looked like an easy day with very little climbing.
The trail was still pretty wet and slippery from the rain the day before. Also, it was pretty overgrown causing my feet and shorts to get wet. This was annoying, but not a huge deal.
My tent had gotten a little wet the night before from some rain and condensation. When I stopped for lunch I put it out to dry on a little island formed by a stream splitting. It was one of the few places in a large burn area where you didn’t have to worry about dead trees falling.
I got the tent dry and kept on hiking. It was very windy, which made me nervous in such a long burn section. The miles were easy and I was making good progress.
The weather today seemed fine. Lots of wind, but no rain and the clouds weren’t too dark. Around 6 pm I decided to stop and cook dinner. As I started my stove, a cloud came in bringing a very light sprinkle. I cooked and ate dinner and then it started to rain harder. What I should have done is stopped and camped right there. It was a pretty great site even if it was a few miles short of where I wanted.
What I did was keep hiking. The trail was almost immediately covered with shoulder high bushes and I got soaked. Almost instantly my shoes, shorts, and even underwear were totally swamped. I didn’t even think to wear my rain pants, which would have gone a long way in keeping my legs dry, If not my shoes.
I had about 4 miles to go and it was pretty cold, especially with the rain. My gloves and layers were stashed in my pack and I really didn’t want to pull them out and risk getting my stuff wet. So I just hiked. Luckily it was uphill, but it was still over an hour of hiking in the rain. I was nearly shivering when I got to camp.
Thankfully the rain had nearly stopped by the time I made it to the campsite and I was able to set everything up without my tent getting too wet. I changed into my dry underwear and socks and got in my sleeping bag.
Tomorrow is gonna be rough putting on the wet shorts, but I’ll manage. Even if I would have camped, I would have gotten soaked immediately by the bushes in the morning.
Town is still 39 miles away. Tomorrow shouldn’t be a terribly hard day, but even if I made it to town it would be late. I really hope it doesn’t rain again. This is getting ridiculous.