#127 Bobblets Gap Shelter to Bryant Ridge Shelter - Day 61: ATMM 748.8 to ATMM 762.3
Other hikers warn of bad storms on the way. Several of them are warring with themselves about what to do, stay or go. I join the battle.
5/1/22
My tent is soaked from the thick moisture hanging in the air. A dense fog has engulfed the area. Voices from other hikers rise from near the shelter. Some are stirring and have revived the fire.
I’m too late to help with the fire so I bring the gift of music with me to the shelter to contribute to the atmosphere. It is Sunday morning and Casey Kasem’s Classic Presentation of America’s Top 40 from nineteen-eighty something is beginning on a online radio station I’m streaming. Voices turn to song as Kasey rolls out a familiar tune. Papa remembers the show airing many years ago, No-Steps does not. Like the fire, the music will have a limited lifespan this morning - I have to make phone battery choices.
I push my hiking pole ends into the ground near the fire and hang my damp hiking shirt over them to warm it before putting it on. I don’t mind wearing wet clothes but putting on a cold damp shirt in the morning is a shock to the system, like jumping in a cold lake.
Rolo hiked in late last night. I slept through him setting up his tent. All of us prepare breakfast near the fire with songs from the eighties as the soundtrack to our morning.
The terrain this morning isn’t very difficult but the damp air is really affecting breathing. I can’t seem to inhale enough oxygen to fuel my body. Muscle fatigue and mild dizziness sets in.
Three hours into the day I reach Cove Mountain Shelter. The clouds thin and sunlight is breaking through.
I hang my tent and sleeping bag over a line I strung up between two trees. The dry breeze and filtered sunlight dry it quickly.
Reboot walks in from the trail and I have déjà vu from a few days ago at Niday Shelter. Like then, he stands by the picnic table while talking with me, then leaves camp while I snack and write in my notebook.