BMT/AT Figure 8 Day 38: Three-Criminal Day
Day 38, Friday, October 9, 2020
Stealth Site on Rocky Bald, Mile 2065.9 to Siler Bald Shelter, Mile 2079.9
Mile 426
Miles Hiked: 14.1
Today started off glorious—sunrise glorious—and eventually got weird.
Spent most of the day just marching along, plugged into the Criminal Podcast (I save up all the episodes throughout the year just for hiking, then ration them out on long afternoons like today, no more than two a day. Sometimes three.).
Today was a three-Criminal day.
GERMS BEING SPEWED
By the time I got to Wayah Bald, it was raining. So I went into the dungeon space at the base of the stone tower and ate lunch out of the rain and out of the crowd. Had to move on when an old, unmasked dude came in huffing and puffing and hacking and wheezing and spewing his germs all over the small, enclosed area.
AK-47S BEING WAVED
I thought about camping in the decommissioned picnic area at the next road crossing, but there were a couple of sketchy dudes showing off their AK-47’s in the pullout/parking area.
Moving on, for sure.
Eventually, I had to renege on my Stealth Camping Project for the night—there was no water and no good options before the Siler Bald shelter, so I set up my tent at the shelter and fretted about the rain in the forecast.
TENTS BEING BAILED
Here’s a confession: my little teepee tent—a ZPacks Altaplex—is losing its shit. It’s been leaking during heavy rainstorms, water coming in from the bottom. I’m afraid this might be its final long hike because it’s not possible to get off the trail every time there’s a threat of rain, though, lord knows, I’ve tried.
SRSLY, WTF?
It turns out, and this was news to me recently, that ZPacks figures their (very expensive) tents are only good for one thru-hike. Only good for about 2,500 miles.
Then, look forward to bailing out your bathtub floor throughout some very long nights.
It was good while it lasted. And weighed less than a feather.
The good news is, tomorrow is resupply day and I’m taking a zero.
LET IT RAIN!
