12 May 2016, Thursday

Despite a vigorous shower during the night, we wake to bright
sunshine. We rehydrate and eat our apple-cranberry french toast and
give our tent some time to dry. By 10:21 we are on the trail. I leave
my rain cover on my pack for lack of a better place to put it.

Once again we find ourselves admiring all the wildflowers. I try to take
photos with my little camera, but the results are a bit blurry. I
finally take out my good camera and turn it on. Nothing happens. .
.except for a little message on the screen saying, “charge
battery.” Very frustrating! I put the good camera back in its zip
lock bag inside my pack. On we go. As we walk we catch glimpses of
Maddron Bald across the valley. We have many creek crossings, some
deeper than usual, due to yesterday’s thunderstorms. Many of the rocks
are slippery and covered with moss. I go down crossing one of the
streams. My left arm and leg get a good bath, and my boots and socks
are pretty soggy. Luckily my camera is safely stowed in my pack. With
the pack cover on, my pack and its contents (our sleeping system
included) stay completely dry.

Today’s hike is much easier than yesterday’s. We hear distant thunder that
soon becomes very close thunder. Out with the ponchos and on with the
rain hats! I’m glad I didn’t bother changing my socks after I fell.

We arrive at the Albright Loop of old growth forest along the Maddron
trail. I assume it is named after Horace Albright, assistant to
Stephen Mather, first director of the National Park Service. Albright
became the second director of the park service and was instrumental
in getting both the Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Tetons declared national parks. There are tremendous tulip poplars along the Albright Loop and also the remains of what was once an old growth hemlock forest before it was decimated by the hemlock adelaide, an aphid-like invasive insect.

We continue our hike through torrential thunderstorms and finally
arrive at campsite 34 on the Gabes Mountain Trail right next to the
Greenbrier Creek. We arrive in a pouring rain, so the first project
is choosing a tent site and hanging the tarp. The tarp hang is not
one of our best efforts, but it provides shelter for cooking.
Thankfully there is a brief lull in the rain, during which we manage
to get the tent up.

By this time we are both cold and wet. We change into our only dry clothes –
our sleeping shirts. I take out my nice dry, fluffy sleeping socks
and put them on, figuring they will at least keep my feet warm for
awhile and will also absorb some of the moisture from my boots. We both change
from ponchos to rain suits. Dinner is a warming batch of Spanish
rice, with brownies (of course) for dessert. We are in the tent
early, I’m journalling and O is studying the map. There is not much reason
to stay out under the tarp in our wet boots in the middle of an
ever-expanding mud puddle. We are both hoping to dry out tomorrow.
(Good thing it’s our last day of hiking…I have only one pair of
dry socks left.) Total elevation gain today: 1800 feet, much easier
than yesterday!