Long Trail: Day 13

14 miles (158 Total)

Skylight Lodge to Batelle Shelter

I woke up just in time to see a great sunrise over the pond.

“Carolyn, there’s a great sunrise outside,” I whispered. “You should get up and see it.”

“Erm..I’m going to just sleep.” She said, rolling back over. 

I went down by the pond to get a few pictures and see if my frog friend was there. The only thing that greeted me by the shore were black flies. I took a few shots and went back to bed for an hour.

Once we got moving, the morning’s hike was spent slogging up and down small hills on top of a ridge, while simultaneously trying to avoid mud and puddles. The trail was overgrown in many sections and we had to walk through all manner of tall grasses and small plants. Pine trees stuck out by the trail too and these were harder to walk through. 

We eventually made it to the next shelter just before noon and right as it started raining. The forecast called for rain all afternoon and night. Lighter at first, and then developing into a more steady downpour later into the evening.

We had lunch in the shelter, lingering and watching the rain, unmotivated to go out into it. How nice it would be to just sit in the shelter all day and sleep the rain away.

But not us. We love misery and misery loves company, so out we went into the crud with our ponchos and rain jackets on.

It was cold- too cold for June. Everything was a wet mess as we meandered through the forest on our way to the next shelter, 7 miles away. The dense forest became a car wash, brushing the wetness into us as we passed through the overgrowth.

It was a head down and no breaks afternoon. Our mission was just to get to the next place where we could get out of the rain.

The rain let up a little and eventually stopped for a moment. We were offered a few expansive views of the surrounding mountains. It affirmed that yes, we were still in them. Most of the time you have no idea where you are. It’s just one long green tunnel that looks the same everywhere you turn. It’s easy to believe you aren’t moving anywhere some of the time.

We finally got to the shelter as it began to rain again. Three people already had there matts out, but the shelter was big enough to easily accommodate a few more.

I am really glad we made it here when we did. The sky soon opened and began dumping a lot of rain.

It’s pouring right now. The forest is a damp mess of wet and soggy earth. The rain pounds the metal roof of the shelter without any rhythm. It’s just a deluge of hard dinging over and over and over again. It’s nice.

The temps have dropped into the upper 40s. It’s too cold here. With the damp and wetness it seems even colder. 

We have 10 more miles until Appalachian Gap. We’ve climbed most of Mt. Abraham to get to this shelter, and only about a mile left remains. We will then follow the ridge and hit another 4K foot mountain before dropping down to the gap. 

We will go and stay in town tomorrow. Waitsville. It’s been a long stretch, six days out. It will be nice to freshen up.