Tornado, Wind Sheer or Micro Draft?

Don't know what it was, but several days ago we were hiking throughout the day and began to hear the thunder rumbling. As the afternoon wore on, it became clear that we were going to get some weather. I was lagging behind so figured I was probably going to get a soaking. I did make it to the shelter as it turns out, got my sleeping bag set up and began the process of fixing a beautiful meal of stovetop stuffing and tuna fish. Just as I almost got the water boiling, the storm broke. I had to leave my "kitchen" where it was as I scrambled to protect my sleeping bag sitting in the shelter because the wind was blowing directly into the shelter (they are three sided). There were five of us in the shelter. I took my tyvac (sp) and wrapped it around my pad and gear and we all sat with our backs to the back of the shelter and the storm came riping through in three huge waves. The wind was hurricane force directly at us and completely soaked the inside of the shelter. One of the hikers was convinced we were in the middle of a tornado and huddled into a fetal position and was in a pure panic. Being close to tornados I knew that was unlikely but we all kept our fingers crossed that none of the trees around the shelter would come down on us.

It was a horrific experience with the wind, rain, thunder and lightening but after about an hour it began to die down and we were able to try to reclaim our things. My stove and all my gear was scattered to the winds but I found most everything I needed (though nothing worked until the next day).

Late into the evening as we were getting settled, Sailor comes strolling in completely soaked to the bone. He had gotten got right in the middle of the storm and had nowhere to go but forward.

Was it a tornado? No way, but the guy thought so. I think it was a major storm with some wind sheer thrown in for good measure. Was it exciting? You bet! Do I want a repeat? Hell NO!

Drive to Damascus - Made It In Yesterday!

It's been a long and interesting slog since I last checked in but I am pleased to report that I made it to Damascus yesterday morning at about 11:00 am. Will provide some updates in some additional posts, but here are some headlines:

- Damascus is in Virgina! So I have left behind GA, NC and TN. Great country along the way but thrilled to make it into VA. Damascus is a huge town for the A/T...hosting a very large and popular trail days event in May. Thousands of hikers (current and past) come into Damascus to celebrate and get in all sorts of trouble. The town is very hiker friendly.

- Crossed the VA line about 5 miles just before Damascus. We were all told that there is no marker on the trail to announce our arrival so I tried my best to estimate where it would be. Bird (Jay Tews) had requested that I take a picture of the state line since that's the only one he missed when he did the AT last year. So I made my best estimate and then took a bunch of sticks and made my own sign on the path "VA...TN", took a picture of it for him. Thought it was pretty cool. Went on my merry way and about 25 meters down the path was a beautiful sign post noting that we are entering VA. Who would have thunk? Anyway, BIRD - I have two pictures I will email to you via iPhone if my AT&T coverage ever works. Thought it was a pretty darn good estimate.
- Did my first "over 20 miles" day two days ago, covering 23 miles on what they call the "TN Turnpike". Nice and flat and since it was a miserable, rainy and foggy day we decided to "crank out" the miles to make it possible to maximize a "nero-zero" in Damascus. It gave us a short 10 mile day into Damascus and we were here by 11:30 am yesterday, just in time for a big chicken fried salad and a half pound cheese burger with onions and bacon (and two dark beers).
- Weather over the past couple of days on the trail was what I was expecting all along. The 23 mile day fully tested my rain gear. Only failure was my pack cover...soaking my gear at the bottom of my pack. My Marmot Oracle and Marmot rainpants held up very well but, man, it was a tough day. My boots were absolutely soaked on the outside, but socks were dry. When we got to the shelter, Pilot and Shira were huddled in the bags trying to warm up. Shira and lost her raincoat and Pilot's gear and gotten soaked the night before so they jumped into the shelter and in their bags trying to get warmed up. Fire Fly's waterproofing failed so her sleeping bag was soaked and her feet as well so she jumped in her sleeping bag right away in an attempt to have her body heat dry the bag out. It was my first experience of being in a situation where someone might have been in harm's way but the rain stopped late in the evening and while nothing dried out, we didn't get any rain blown into the shelter. The next day, we packed our water logged gear up, Fire Fly used some ziploc bags for socks and we took our ten mile hike into Damascus.

Hiker Weight Loss Program - Don't Try This at Home

What do you get when hike 15 miles a day and eat instant oatmeal, instant mash potatoes with tuna and trail mix for five days, blending in a one day gorging session on cheese burgers, pizza, biscuits & gravy, etc.? A quick way to lose 10 pounds! I started my hike at 183 (right out of the shower) and now weigh 174 with clothes on.

So, if you are interested in losing a few pounds...would love the company!

On my way into the hills after a day of avoiding some pretty bad weather. On to Hampton, TN!

Crank

Springer to Erwin: 340 Miles and 25 Days Later...

Milwaukee to Grinnell: 335 miles and 5-1/2 hours by car, about one hour by plane through Des Moines.

How things have changed! I've been thinking about this alot...this notion of walking out the door of my home in Shorewood and begin a hike to go see Ben in Grinnell, Iowa. That's how far I have gone at this point and it's taken me 25 days to do so.

Thank goodness for transportation advances! But it says a lot to me how significant of an impact transportation has made in this world. Everything moved much slower 100 years ago!

It's also been interesting to get glimpses of history in the woods. We've hiked past several grave stones deep in the woods from the late 1800s. It's unclear of why they are there, but one in particular got my attention...of a 13 year old boy that died in 1863. Was he a fatality from the Civil War? Was he a young soldier? A drummer boy?

Also have seen remnants of old log cabins. Reminds me of growing up in the outskirts of Atlanta when Billy Bartlett and I use to hike into the woods and sneak up on some old shacks where black families were living in the woods. Made me also thing that maybe some of these grave stones were for black people that could not afford a cemetary (or weren't welcome?).

Interesting, huh?

Injuries Taking Down the Best on the Trail

Entering this phase of the journey, I get the impression that those that remain on the trail have figured out the equipment, have the mental strength and the physical conditioning to make it at least this far. What seems to be happening now is even some of the strongest are having to step off due to physcial aligments or injuries.

Rocket Rick is probably the most surprising fatality. Rocket Rick is a nationally ranked marathoner that was in great shape and making huge mileage but ended up having to take two days of zeros because of a knee injury. It didn't get any better so he ended up heading home to Ohio only to discover it wasn't his knee, but rather a stress fracture in his upper tibia (sp).

I believe that Moonshine might be off the trail as well but I am not sure. She caught a really bad case of poison ivy and had to get on steroids...that seemed to take care of it for the moment, but she had to drop into town again and I haven't seen her since. She was young and mentally tough.

Mountaineer came off the trail a couple of days ago due to a very strange allergic reaction to duct tape. He had it wrapped around his feet for blisters only to find that he is allergic to latex and it started melting his skin around and between his toes. It was an ugly thing to see and he suffered through two long days before he could get off the trail. His wife was coming to pick him up at Standing Bear.

Ginger Snap is another young tough women who has been fighting a series of injuries, the latest a real bad case of shin splits. She thought she could nurse her way back to health by limiting her hiking from one shelter to the next - about 7 miles a day. It didn't work so she hitched a ride from Standing Bear to Hot Springs so her mom could pick her up. She hopes to get back on the trail within a week or so.

Lizard may be a success story. She had knee problems but after staying at Standing Bear for a few days she jumped back on the trail and I saw her and Thin Mint last night here in Erwin.

Those are just some examples of people having to bail out due to injuries. I'm not sure whether there is truth to my initial observation, but it seems like at this point, it's not about the gear, conditioning or focus but it's about the luck of the draw.

What's the next phase?

Day 25 - Quick Update

Just dropped into Erwin, TN after a four day trek out of Hot Springs. Did just a tad over 70 miles during this section...some very challenging tough miles! Big weather coming in tonight so will do a "nero" or maybe even a "zero" since I am ahead of schedule.

Bird - you are correct about Uncle Johnny's - a rat hole but lots of character!

Everyone else - keep your comments coming! I love them and are HUGE for me...just can't respond to them all due to limited internet access.

Will try to update later!

Crank (formerly known as Crankdadd or Don Tyler)

Day 22 - Trek Out of Hot Springs

Tough to leave the hospitality of Sunnybank and Hot Springs and do the long trek to Erwin. Got off at about 10:30 after consuming two breakfasts at the Smokey Mtn Diner. After a full day of relaxing, hike up the mountain from 1,350 feet was not as bad as I thought it would be...cold, windy and icy but not too bad. Had some great views of the frozen ice on the trees - like God frosted the mountain especially for us.

Goal was to get to a shelter 11 miles out...got there at about 4:00 pm and decided to add another 5-1/2 miles by the end of the day rather than sitting around in a 1938 shelter in the cold.

Great start on the long trek to Erwin as a result. Have 288 miles logged thus far and should break 300 by the end of today. Weather may break for the positive today.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND TRACKING! Hard for me to respond though...

Crank