(Standing Indian Shelter (mile 85.9) - Albert Mountain Fire Tour (mile 99.7))

I woke up a little after 8am to the sound of heavy rain and occasional thunder outside my tent. After thanking the trail for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to test the integrity of my rain gear🙃, I began to pack my things. I packed my sleeping quilt and camp clothes within the relatively dry confines of my tent. These items all go inside a dry bag which is packed into a trash bag for extra waterproofing inside my pack. I then stored my pack under the awning of the shelter and went back to retrieve my bear bag and take down my tent.

I ate breakfast huddled under the awning of the shelter with most of the hikers who had spent the night at the campsite. After a while, it became apparent that the rain would not be easing any time soon and hikers slowly began to trickle out into the rain. After the crowd under the awning thinned out a bit, I did my morning stretches, got my lunch prepped, and set out into the rain at a little after 10am. My goal was to camp near the fire tower on Albert Mountain. My navigation app did not show a campsite there, but I figured there is always a tent pad or two near cool landmarks.

As I began hiking, I reflected on how unusual it was that I made it all the way through Georgia without any serious rainfall. This is almost unheard of, so it seemed fitting that my first full day in North Carolina would be a rainy one. Throughout the morning, I found the hiking to be rather pleasant. The colors of the forest seemed extra vivid as the moss and trees soaked up the falling rain. My rain gear also held up well, which certainly helped keep my spirits up and ward off hypothermia.

My camera is not waterproof, so it spent most of the day hiding away in a waterproof baggie. Unfortunately, this means I did not take many pictures. All of the overlooks were completely fogged out, but I wish I could have taken more pictures of all the very happy moss.

After about 8 miles of hiking, I made it to the sign for Carter Gap Shelter where I planned to eat lunch. Katie and Jasmine, two prospective thru-hikers I met my first night at Stover Creek Shelter, arrived at just about the same time. We could not see the shelter from the sign and after spending an embarrassing amount of time following various side trails, we finally found the shelter. Captain had arrived already and was planning to spend the night. Katie and Jasmine also said they were planning to spend the night at the shelter. I still had about 6 miles left to hike so I ate my lunch, stretched, and headed back out on trail.

The afternoon was wet but the rain had lightened a bit. The fog however was here to stay, and though I climbed many ridges and passed several supposed "lookouts," I was not treated to any spectacular views. During the afternoon, I also started experiencing discomfort in the arch of my left foot. I slowed my pace and hoped that this was just some acute soreness after my bigger miles yesterday.

One of the few pictures I risked taking in the rain today. I still don't know what this sign means🤷‍♂️

The last push of the day was the climb up Albert Mountain, which Guthook (my navigation app) describes simply as "steep." This amounts to about 400 feet of elevation gain over 0.2 miles. The climb was more technical than anything I have encountered before and I found myself concentrating intently on each step. I am probably exaggerating when I say that I was practically bouldering, but that is what it felt like as I scrambled up Albert Mountain.

Eventually, I made it to the top and was rewarded with more foggy views at the base of the fire tower. I climbed the stairs of the tower, but the trapdoor leading to the tower interior was bolted shut. I had not expected to be able to sleep in the tower, but it would have been cool, so I was a little disappointed. Sure enough, there were a handful of tent pads near the base of the tower. After scouting out one that seemed acceptably flat, I set up my tent and ate dinner. I realized that I was getting cold and irritable rather fast, so I quickly set up my bear bag and crawled into my tent. Once in my tent, I warmed up and spent a good chunk of time massaging my feet and thinking about the short day I was planning for tomorrow.

Thunder to wake me
heavy wind against my tent
and yet still, I hike

Surrounded by fog near the top of the fire tower on Albert Mountain