After my apocalyptic storm night I decided I'd break camp as soon as the sun came up. I was just ready to get the heck out of those woods and town was only a short 4mi hike away (plus a hitch)... It sounds like an easy enough task but the temperature dropped overnight from 70 to 30 and it began to sleet and snow just as I started my hike. Oh well, at least its not lightning anymore! I trudged along and made it to the highway in about an hour and a half. I walked directly to the shoulder of the road and stuck out my thumb for a ride. Within 2 minutes a van stopped and I was on my way. The van belonged to an eccentric guy named Gordon. I couldn't understand a word he said but the other hiker he had picked up translated for me. Gordon lives in his van and travels around giving support got the thru-hikers. I wish I could have found out more about him. He seemed like a true character. He dropped me off at the Huddle House, I thanked him, and then headed inside for a warm breakfast. I sat down with a group of hikers that I've been seeing along the trail over the past few days. We exchanged horror stories about sleeping thru the storm. They had all camped at the same shelter that I was at and had caught a ride into town from a section hiker that was parked nearby. We all survived!
I made my way over to the Microtel and got a room for the night. I spent most of the day today doing laundry, getting groceries, and shopping at the outfitters. I'm beat! I only hiked 4 miles today but all of the errands wore me out. Tomorrow I'll need to find a ride back to the trail. Then it's just 3 days of hiking to the NOC where I'll get to see Alex. Woohoo!
107.5mi down... 2073.5 to go.
I was praying for you when that storm hit Nashville. Most of HSTM hunkered down in the stairwell. It blew out windows in the building and spawned 3 tornadoes. I instantly thought about you and prayed you would make it to shelter in time because a tent alone wouldn't have protected you from that kind of wind and rain. I am very happy to see you made it alive. We are all rootin' for you here and checking your site every day for new and exciting posts! Keep it up...you can do it!!!!
ReplyDeleteAngie - HSTM