Mile 760.1
Elevation 1,276
Miles Hiked 20.8
I got caught in a bubble of hikers at the last shelter and wanted to lose them, so I decided to skip a couple of shelters and head for the Bryant Ridge Shelter. Even if the bubble caught up with me, the shelter holds twenty hikers, so there is no chance it will fill up. Rain was predicted for late afternoon and that’s why I wanted a shelter space. I hate packing up a wet tent in the morning.
There were the usual ups and downs but the hiking went fast. I left the last shelter at 7:00 AM and arrived at this shelter at 6:15 PM. During the last half hour of the hike it was raining, so I was glad I had moved as fast as I did.
When I walked into the shelter, I was surprised by the number of people there. There was a party of five section hikers and an equal amount of through hikers. Fortunately, there was plenty of room.
After dinner, I climbed into my sleeping bag. It was a short time later when a loud crack was heard followed by a thud that shook the shelter. A tree not far away had fallen over. Apparently, the rain had weakened the tree’s root system’s ability to support the tree in the wet ground, and so down it came.
The rain continued late into the night. I was glad to have a spot in the shelter.
