Miles today: 14.8
Total miles: 373.8
Pretty uneventful day for the most part. Nice hot weather, pleasant hiking, good views. Even had a nice little catnap after lunch.
At the end of the day was a 3-mile, 2,000-ft climb up Roan Mountain. No problem. Except that after about two miles the weather turned on us. I was hearing thunder so started to haul ass in order to stay ahead of the weather. Then the rain came. No problem. Then the lightning came. Problem. At over 6000 ft, this is when bad things can happen. I came to a campsite where few other guys had pitched their tents and decided to stop as well. As I put up my tent the hail started. Threw all my gear in the tent and jumped in. Things stayed dry for the most part luckily.
Then the lighting really started hammering us and it was CLOSE. No more than a second between the flash and the thunder.
Then a river of cold water rushed under my tent, creating an icy waterbed. So when the hail stopped we all moved our tents to non-river-type locations. Just in time, too, because it's hailing again.
I gotta get out of these southern mountains. In a week or so I'll be in Virginia.
But for today I'm calling foul on Mother Nature.
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