Standing Indian Mountain

I went through the whole night without rain surprisingly. There was a heavy fog everywhere and a light misting started once I started getting ready. The 2 hikers with 2 dogs were apparently camped here as well just down the hill hidden in the forrest or something. I'm surprised that none of us even knew that they were there.

There was a slight steady rain until I climbed up to Standing Indian Shelter where a few other hikers were taking shelter from the rain. There was this persistent mist with fog making everything damp. I was told that severe weather and hail might be in the forecast but it keeps changing like crazy with so many people giving me different forecasts that I just decided to hike on. (Bad mistake)

I ran into a guy who was doing a day hike just to the top and back that said his son had hiked the Appalachian Trail a few years back and this was his favorite section of it. His whole section was affected by last year's fires. I didn't get any views at all because of the fog and clouds.

Once I made it to the top the rain really started picking up. Then it started flooding the trail, thundering, and lightening and it was cold!  I got soaked. I forgot that my armpit vents were open on my rain jacket and I was walking in a stream the whole rest of the day. I was just desperate to get to the next shelter which was about 7 miles away.  Halfway there I was just shivering. I had to stop to get some food and water which I knew would help me stay warm. My fingers were so stiff from the cold I ended up just ripping at the summer sausage at the top of my pack with my teeth. I had 3/4th left and I scarfed that whole thing down in less than 5 min. I couldn't pull it out of it's packaging or paper so I just pulled it apart with my teeth.

Eventually I realized how badly I needed to shit. I was trying to squeeze it in to make it to the shelter but it was practically coming out. I had to quickly dig a cat hole, that was a really close call. I almost shit myself. It was awful having to squat above a hole in the ground in a heavy thunderstorm.

When I got to the shelter everyone was huddled up inside with tarps and emergency blankets on. Hypothermia was a real concern. I had considered stopping earlier to set up my tent in the rain just to dry off and warm up. Everyone in the shelter was shivering and shoulder to shoulder. I squeezed in on the end and someone gave me a trap to wrap around me. There was a rowdy bunch of boyscouts making a ton of noise. They looked warm and dry but they were being so obnoxious while all of us hikers were wet and freezing. It turned out that I sat down next to Ben! I had absolutely no idea for about 10min because he was completely bundled up in rain gear. There were actually a handful of people i knew at this shelter. It's just everyone is hard to recognized being bundled up. I had to take all my wet outter layers off then get some dry clothing on and eat a bunch of high calorie food and drink some water because of how cold and wet I was.

Later in the afternoon the rain just turned into a light drippy mess then into a sunny evening or sunset. I really wish i stayed at that last shelter and hiked when the rain stopped. I ended up setting up my tent and having a early night.

 I must say that I'm very scared to see how my toes are doing after hiking in freezing cold water all day.

My left toe is beginning to look a lot like my right toe. 

My right toe looks a bit more concerning.

Here's a photo of the rash on my hand. The cool rain felt great on it until it was time for bed then it felt like it was on fire! I'm going to have to sleep with my hands outside my sleeping bag tonight with how crazy hot they are. 

Feel free to ask me questions, even as silly as they might be. I'll make a special post just for answering them! 

Tonight I'm camped at Carter Gap Shelter at mile 93.6 with 2096.2 left to go.