Rain

5/7/2013

Rain

It's raining.  It's pouring.   I am on my back, in my tent, trying not to think about it.   It is raining harder now......than before.  It is late.  It is very late.  It is 10:30 AM, in the morning.  And I am lying on my back, in my tent.....not thinking about how hard it is raining..... nor that I am going to have to go out and pee, soon...... and go down to the creek,  and get some water too.  I am almost out of water.....less than 1/2 pint left.  Three good slugs left.
I will have to pee, before I run out of water.  But if I get my rain gear on to pee, I may as well go down to the creek,  and get water, and purify it.
Jeez.  It's 10:30 AM.   I should be at least 2 1/2 hours up the trail.   But I did not get up.  I am waiting for the rain to stop.   Hikers hike in the rain.......always.  I hike in the rain....always.   But I am laying here, and pushing up on the inside of my tent periodically, in order to empty the puddle that fills up in the loose spot, at the end of the outside of the tent.  It is hard to explain..... but the material the tent is made of stretches a bit when wet.
If the camp site is not perfectly flat, (good luck with that), and the tent is not set up perfectly square...... and perfectly tight..... without tearing it.....(good luck with that), then when it rains a puddle forms on the outside roof....and as more and more water goes into the puddlle...... the roof matterial stretches more and more...... sagging toward the ground inside the tent.
So to escape having my feet covered by a big puddle of water,  I have to periodically drain the puddle.   I used to go outside in the rain.  Okay, I would do it incidentally, to a pee trip.  Then I dicovered that if I push up on the roof quickly from inside the tent,  right on the seam,  I can force the puddle to drain without causing the inside of the roof to leak.  Which would be a tenting, in the rain disaster...... as all who have ever been inside a tent trying to stay dry, in the rain, can attest.  I can actually judge how hard it is raining, by how often I have to empty the puddle.
Last night it was getting dark and starting to rain, when I rambled into this shelter site.  The other hikers....kids actually...... sleeping in the shelter, said "Hawkeye".  They were suprised that I made it this far.   I was suprised too.  But I wanted to get off that ridge and off those steep slabs of rock, before it rained...... before any lightning.  If there had been a flat spot, that was not on top of the ridge, I would have stopped.  In response to their salutation,  I intentionally stumbled to the bench seat of the picnic table,  just outside the shelter and inquired,
"Is this Katahdin?"  They all laughed.
Now it is raining even harder.
The hikers in the other two tents are gone.  They got up late, but they did get up..... and packed up...... and are hiking north.   At least some of the people in the shelter are gone hiking.  Maybe everyone is gone........except me!   I am still here, lying on my back.  Which is getting sore from lying down so long....... And I have to pee!
I can not waste a day like this.  Can I?   I can not just stay in this tent.  Can I?   I can not take a zero day out on the trail, and not in town, just because it is raining.  Can I?
They are all gone ....all of them.  I just know it.  If I go out to pee, and look.....everyone will be gone hiking...... but me.
This situation scares me.   Am I losing my thru-hiker motivation?  Is this the end?  No.  I don't think so.  I think it is just rain.
It has been raining since about 6 PM last night.   It is almost noon and it is still raining.  It is still raining.  And now the wind is starting to blow......and I have to pee.   It is Monday, May 6, 2013.....and I have to pee.  A day off would be a good thing, for my poor feet.  This rain just will not quit.  There goes all that effort to really cover some ground, the last three days. Virginia has not been easy, the last three days.... since Pearisburg.  I thought Virginia was easy?
If I had phone service,  I could call some people...... say hi.  I could post to my journal.
Crap......I have to pee!