Day 29

Day 29 - Spring past Big Butt to spring past Sam's Gap - 14.5 mi - 316 total

Hard morning. Passed the Shelton Graves, unfortunately took a snack break right next to the largest pile of human bowel movement in history, and then a lot of uneventful trail. At Devil Fork Gap (NC 212) road crossing we were elated to find a big bright red cooler full of soda, oatmeal cream pies (which, by the way, are now starting to wear on Mike), snickers, apples, and a bag for the trash sitting right next to it! Shoved and chugged, then ran across the road and over a little fence ladder, through the corner of a cow pasture, and up back into the folds of the mountains. Followed a stream for a while past the remnants of some old log cabins and other structures that had fallen apart a long time ago. Stopped again to snack and recharge and smartly chose to preemptively put on our raingear before the skies opened up. For the previous few hours we could feel the humidity in the air and noticed the clouds slowly moving in to block out the sun. The rain started almost immediately. For the next 5 mi we wandered up the forested ridges along old forest roads next to ancient looking barbed-wire fences. We were completely engulfed by clouds, dealing with occasional hard rain but mostly fog and light drizzle in what felt like a dream. We crossed under the Interstate bridge at Sam's Gap in what must have been late afternoon. The rain stopped, we could see the clouds hugging the mountains surrounding the gap, and the wind picked up. We climbed up onto a ridgeline and after 2 miles the rain was coming down, the wind was getting very strong, and we came upon a small flank of the ridge that was flat and had a spring so we called it a day. Laura pumped water as Mike attempted to dry out and set up in the tent. It sounded like a hurricane as Mike wiped up the water on the tent floor and made a place for all the soaked clothing in the vestibule. We sat and ate and listened to the storm getting stronger and moving over us. The tent was shaking - a lot. Overnight there were a few times we woke to the sound of branches cracking and falling. Really extreme wind. We are once again assured of the quality of our tent - thank you North Face!
Note: We found out later that this storm was the same one that produced the tornado that whipped through Mississippi. Crazy!