National Parks and Recreation

Long Trail Miles: 7.7
10.7.20
50˚ and raining
Birch Glen Lodge

I had only one goal for today: to get over Burnt Rock Mountain before the rain started. Aspen was going to be taking a zero day and hanging in the shelter drinking his recently acquired Heady Toppers all day. But having just taken a zero day and only having a few left on the trail, I knew that wasn’t an option for me. But I also knew how important it was that I summit Burnt Rock Mountain before the rain started or it would make for treacherous hiking.

It was only 3.5 miles that I needed to get through, but it included a 1,000 foot climb up and back down Ethan Allen Mountain first. My fancy weather app told me the rain was going to start at 11am, so I got up early and was on the trail by 7:30am, eating a breakfast Clif bar as I hiked.

I sped right past Allie’s Lookout because I didn’t know how far off the trail it was and I was in a hurry, but apparently I missed out on some good views back to Camel’s Hump. (Ugh, the more I type out these journal entries, the more I want to go back and hike the entire thing again.)

The views on the way up Ethan Allen Mountain were really nice with the scattered rain clouds and morning sun.

It took me about an hour to make the steep climb up to the summit.

I was making good time, but still didn’t linger too long at the top.

The climb down the other side of Ethan Allen was relatively steep and not the easiest on my legs, but I just put my head down and kept going.

I kept getting more and more antsy as I started up Burnt Rock because the sky did not look promising. And this is where I was dumb and careless. There was a pretty steep, smooth rock near the Ladder Ravine and with my quickened pace, I decide to run down it instead of being careful. It was dry! I thought it would be fine. But my new shoes aren’t as grippy as my Keen’s and I slipped and slammed down hard on my butt and scraped the crap out of my hand as I tried to catch myself. Very, very dumb.

I was lucky and overall fine, but it meant I had to stop and clean out my hand and waste valuable time. It was a pretty deep gash (I still have the scar now, two months later) and it bled like a son of a bitch. I hope someone hiked by there later in the day and wondered what the hell had happened. It was also in a very annoying spot, right in the main crease of my palm, making it very difficult to bandage. I had to dig through my pack one-handed to get my first aid kit (lesson learned! always have your first aid kit in an easily-accessible spot). For the time being, I settled with just washing it out with some water, wiping some disinfectant on it, and wrapping it a million times with some gauze. Just so it wouldn’t keep bleeding everywhere.

Of course this was in the Ladder Ravine, so the first thing I had to do once I hit the trail again was climb a ladder up a rock wall. Not the easiest to do with one and a half hands, but I managed. (Also, I didn’t notice this at the time, but reading through the Guthook app to write this post I noticed this description of the Ladder Ravine: “Be careful when hiking through here, since both sides can potentially pose falling risks.” Welp.)

The rest of the hike up Burnt Rock Mountain was uneventful. As I got near the summit, I could see how it would be pretty treacherous in the rain. The entire top of the mountain was slippery, exposed rock.

It was a fun scramble when it’s dry though! And there were some nice views of the surrounding area.

Relieved that I had accomplished my goal before the rain, I allowed myself to slow down a little. And not just because it was necessary to get down the tricky scrambles south of Burnt Rock. It was 1.5 miles to the first shelter, but I had aspirations of making it to one that was 3 miles past that. It took me about an hour to go that first 1.5 miles because of my feet and knees, but I arrived at Cowle’s Cove Shelter at 10:55am and literally 10 seconds after I got under the shelter and took off my pack, the rain started. It could not have been more perfect.

I took my time eating a snack and talking myself into going out in the rain. I knew the next shelter was more enclosed and an easy flat walk away. But I also knew I would get completely soaked getting there. In retrospect, I should have waited at Cowle’s Cove for an hour or so and left during one of the many breaks in the rain. But I didn’t know if those breaks would even come at the time, so I put on my poncho and resigned myself to getting wet.

This was where I really missed my Keen’s sandals. My Altas got wet immediately and soaked straight through to my feet. It was fine when I only needed to wear them for 3 miles, but I knew there was no way they were going to dry in time for tomorrow, even with the early end time.

I fell a second time during this stretch and drew blood again. But this one wasn’t my fault! A root jumped up and got me out of nowhere. I wasn’t even walking very fast. But it was hiding in the fallen leaves and I walked straight into it. My pack did the rest and kept my forward motion going, flinging me to the ground, scraping my knee, and ripping my pants. Whatever. I only have one full day of hiking after this, the trail might as well throw whatever it can at me for now.

I arrived at Birch Glen Shelter around 1pm to find another couple already there. They had hiked up from the road via a 1.3 mile spur trail and were hiding out from the rain all day. They had quite the set-up with Christmas lights and everything. It was a lot. I hung out on the porch for awhile. I quickly got out of my wet socks, shoes and clothes and hung them up to dry as much as possible. I cleaned out my hand wound again and put on some Neosporin. I attempted a bandaid, but I just had to wrap the crap out of it with gauze anyway because of where it was. It made me look kind of badass though.

There were a couple of breaks in the rain where I could run out and get water, use the bathroom, etc. I ate another combined lunch/dinner and then decided to just brush my teeth so I could hide in my warm sleeping bag the rest of the day. I don’t think I will ever again in my life be in bed with my teeth brushed by 3pm. It felt very strange. But it was getting colder and colder out and I was only comfortable in my sleeping bag. I read a lot of my book, edited pictures, and looked at the trail ahead in my app. Tomorrow is going to be rough.

Directly from my journal:

“I’ll have to push myself tomorrow to summit Mt Ellen and Mt Abraham (both 4k-ers), and make it back down to the shelter that’s only a mile from the road where Canada is going to pick me up at 9am on Friday. YAY! Very excited. It’s only 11.8 miles from here and the weather’s supposed to be nice (but cold). It’s also mostly uphill and flat hiking, so I should be fine! I’m starting to feel pretty sad that I only have one more “real” day on the trail.”

It torrentially downpoured and thundered throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening. And the temperature plummeted overnight.