Day Three

21.5 mi & 3,600 ft. I was startled awake by something. As I was trying to figure out what, there was a big flash and five seconds later a clap of thunder followed. The storm had arrived. It was 3AM. It rained and rained hard. Several lightning strikes occurred, but none closer that a mile away. The wind was a low roar, but no hail and no tornado sounds. It was all over in 20 minutes and I went back to sleep.

It was not a restful night. Severe thunderstorms moved through the area and I was more than a little bit worried. My phone showed the radar track of a powerful cell moving directly toward me. I sat there in my hammock in the dark waiting. The wind whipped around the ridge tops sounding like a jet engine. Slowly the cell advanced, but the nearer it got the fewer lighting strikes seemed to occur. Finally, as it arrived in my area about 10:30, it had nothing left, but rain. I went to sleep, only to be awakened at 3AM when a second cell hit. The little one I got was thankfully mild, which was just fine with me.

I did get up a little later than usual. After breakfast, I packed up and headed out. About 15 minutes after leaving my campsite I stopped to get water and found that, my water bottle and filter were gone. I retraced my steps and found them about 30 feet from my campsite. They had made a leap for freedom from my pack. I resecured them and headed out again.

Rather than go down and find the trail, I decided to continue on the nearby road, which parallel the trail until they would intersect in a few miles. The road led me pass farmsteads on hilltops, hillbilly shacks, and grand homes on spacious grounds. The road hugged the ridge, so there were some nice views.

I picked up the trail near Hare Mountain and climb to the top with even grander views of the mountains. The area is quite a bit like the A-T, as these are older mountains, quite rounded, and clothed in deciduous trees.

I followed the ridge around to Morgan Mountain and then continued south dropping down eventually to Harrods Creek. This was a chaotic area with at least five different creeks, flowing in the immediate vicinity. I eventually got confused and ended up doing some cross country to find the jeep road to the highway. My plan was to avoid the next ford on Indian Creek, which I thought might be problematic after all the rain. Walking the highway would give me a bridge over Indian Creek.

I walked the better part of a mile along the jeep road when I came to a plethora of private property signs. Even though my map showed the road going through and I was only about 3/4 of a mile from the highway the road was posted with keep out signs. I checked my map and decided I could get back on the trail and hike to the next road down to the highway. So I backtrack and took the trail.

When I got to the next road, several miles and 1000 feet higher, I took it down, hoping that I would not meet the same fate. Luck was with me and this road made it to the highway. I walked several miles along the roadway till I crossed the bridge over Indian Creek.

As I examined my map, I realized that the highway went directly to the town of Ozone where I will be staying day after tomorrow. I also realized it’s about 20 miles on the road with about 1000 feet elevation gain. The trail, although obviously more interesting and prettier, is about 35 miles and about 6000 feet of elevation gain. Truth is that I have underestimated the difficulty of this trail and overestimated my ability. So, I decided to hike the road tomorrow into Ozone and see if I can stay two nights. So that is the new plan.

Until tomorrow, Happy Trails.