/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
Hawk Mountain Shelter should have felt like a win. Instead, I was shivering in the rain, forcing down half-cooked Knorr rice that sat in my stomach like cement. The night ahead promised mice, snoring, and maybe — if I was lucky — three hours of sleep.
It rained. It sprinkled. It misted. And there was fog to be had all around. I got to use my handy dandy umbrella and loved it, though! I rigged it onto my pack hands to be hands free while hiking!!
We got a pretty late start due to all of the water in our tents. Dragon and I started off hiking together and made lunch at Stover Creek later in the day. We made hot lunch because it was cold and rainy. Plus it’s a good way to get all the calories you need. At Stover creek we met Chandler and his Dad (we like to call him Camo but he refuses to take it as his trail name), Yogi, Two Weeks, and Whisperer. Yogi gave me a sleeping bag liner her never used and didn’t want to put over my sleeping pad to hopefully regulate the temperature better.
After I finished my lunch. I set out alone, Dragon finishing up her lunch and was not far behind me. I walked the 5 miles to Hawk Mountain Shelter in just over 2 hours and was quite happy with my pace. It was 4pm when I arrived.
I was nervous that Dragon wouldn’t be able to make it all the way to Hawk Mountain Shelter before dark. And with the fog, night hiking was not an option. But she pushed herself and made it there at exactly 6pm, just as dusk set in! I was so proud of her and so excited to see her. At Hawk Mountain Shelter we met Ohm, ‘Racha, E-Dog (an actual dog!), Whisperer, Storage Unit, Weeds (soon to be renamed Michelin), Sandals, and a few others. We all made dinner together under the edge of the shelter roof.
I made myself a Knorr rice side but I was running low on fuel (I accidentally brought a canister that was less than half full, oops) and it didn’t cool all the way through. I knew I needed the calories and did not want to have to pack out that liquidy, heavy mess so I tried really hard to eat it. I forced myself to eat the whole thing. It was awful. I was instantly nauseous. The rice clinged to the sides of my stomach like cement. More on this in a moment...
I decided to sleep in the shelter and try to dry out my tent and my puffy that night. I went up the ladder into the loft after dinner and laid out my sleeping pad and sleeping bag. I put some toilet paper around my bed to keep the mice away (a serious problem in shelters). I hung my tent up to ‘dry’ and draped my puffy over the loft railing. I change into my sleeping clothes and put on my camp shoes. Then I headed down to get water and put away my bear bag.
On my way back from getting water is when Dragon rolled in. I was so excited she made it that I ran over to her (because we weren’t quite a tramily yet, no one knew why o was freaking out about this girl) and everyone in the shelter stared in confusion.
On the trail people typically go to bed soon after dusk. Anywhere from 630-9. 9 is considered ‘hiker midnight’ so the shelter was settling in when Dragon got to camp. I made her dinner while she set up her tent and we hung out in her tent while she ate, so as not to disturb the shelter sleepers.
After dinner I went up to the loft (accidentally waking up E-Dog and everyone else at 730pm) and I went to bed. I probably got about 3 hours of sleep. I wore earplugs and was still lullabied by a loud snorer (Michelin). The bag liner did help my sleeping dilemma a bit. As did the hat made by my Mom (thanks Mom).