Days 54-55

Day 54, 6/21/23

Cove Mountain Shelter to Thunder Hill Shelter

17.2 miles, mile 772.5

The rain held off last night, but came full force around 11:00 a.m. and was pouring all day long. My raincoat wet out and my shirt was dripping water and I was very cold. All the elevation today helped keep me warm since it was 5,800 feet to climb over the 17.2 miles. We took a break right before the rain started at Bryant Ridge Shelter, which is the biggest shelter on the whole trail! It was massive and looked very nice, I wish we were there right now. There was even the ring toss game, I was able to get it after a couple tries. We hiked on in the rain and up a lot of the elevation to get to the Thunder Hill Shelter where we are tenting. The shelter was full when we got here so we set up our tents in the rain and I got changed as fast as I could into my dry sleep clothes and into my sleeping bag. The wind is really picking up and I’m hoping that my tent stakes stay nice and secure. I doubt much sleep will happen tonight with the wind and rain, but tomorrow we will be at a hostel and I cannot wait for a hot shower, laundry, and a bed.

Day 55

Thunder Hill Shelter to Stanimals Hostel

14.8 miles, mile 787.3

It absolutely poured all night and all day today. Everything is completely soaked, my rain jacket wet out completely again. I hiked in my sleep shirt because of how cold and wet my hiking shirt was. The hiking was uneventful today, we did book it the last five miles to get on an earlier shuttle to the hostel. We originally said 3:00 p.m. but at 11:30 a.m. we were only five miles from the road. I called and asked if we could get picked up at 1:30 p.m. and they said someone was getting picked up at 1:00 p.m. That gave us an hour and a half to hike five miles in the pouring rain, and we did it! I got there at 12:45 p.m. We got to the hostel and did laundry and showered to warm up. After relaxing for a bit, a big group that we had run into before showed up. They all did their laundry and showered, and we went to the only restaurant in Glasgow. They have a gluten free crust for pizza but said if I had celiac there is cross contamination and I shouldn’t get it. The only option for me was lettuce with a piece of grilled chicken. Everyone else got cheesy garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, pizzas, beer, calzones, and pasta. Times like this it really sucks to have celiac. I’m trying to stay positive and think that lettuce is better than instant mashed potatoes, which would have been the alternative. Although now I’m already very hungry. We were lucky enough to get a ride there, but walked back in the rain. I’m very excited to go to sleep tonight, I was up until around 3:00 a.m. because of the rain and wind and am super tired. We debated staying two nights and slackpacking tomorrow but decided against it and will hike out in the morning. The goal is 20 miles, but with wet packs, wet tents, and 4 1/2 days of food on our backs we will have to see!