Miles Today - 14.8
Location - Deer Park Mountain Shelter
Date - May 1
The storm finally caught up to us, loud pelts of rain on the tin roof stirring me awake. I was also roused by a night hiker who meandered through, looking for a spot in the full shelter. I watched him by his red light, a little leery as I had just heard about a SoBo hiker who steals food at night, before quickly falling into a tired sleep again.
My food was there in the morning. A heavy mist covered everything, limiting visibility to only about 15 feet. I became briefly lost, but only wasted about 10 minutes on a side trail before arriving back on track. I ate brunch at a mist shrouded shelter, and pushed on.
Going into Hot Springs today would be easy. But Rose is spending Friday and Saturday there to meet her boyfriend, and I'd like to be at most a day ahead of her. Another zero on Saturday does sound nice though. But then I certainly don't want to waste money on a motel tonight. So I ended taking a short day, and rolled into the shelter at 1:00, as the mist began to give away to a bright sun.
Yeesh. That's early. Much of the crew from last night showed up in time, and we chatted about our Hot Springs plans while gorging on our extra food supplies. As the afternoon grew later we decided it was quiet time, and retreated to bags/tents for a few hours. A lot of people like to tent out on nice days like this, but I prefer a shelter to keep my mornings short and sweet. There's a diner in Hot Springs that I want to be at as early as possible.
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