Day 70, Pinefield Hut to South River Fire Road

The trail was flat to Pinefield Gap, but because the air was thick with moisture I knew this would be a day of sweating.

It didn’t take long for the character of the trail to change and prove me right. It began making a series of long climbs, each with a greater elevation change than the one before.

The temperature rose with each climb, and soon I was soaked in my own sweat.

After about two-and-a-half hours of this I passed another mileage marker. Even though these tick by at regular intervals, there’s no way I will tire of them or take them for granted.

At the top of each climb I was able to get a new view of the sky, and with each view the sky looked darker and more menacing.

There were several day hikers and section hikers on the trail today. They were suffering from the heat too, but they didn’t smell as bad as I did.

On the way down from the second climb I stopped, took off my pack and sat on a rock. Ostensibly the purpose of this stop was to eat lunch, but in reality it was to cool down.

I left Opie at the spring and continued on to the top of the mountain. As I was standing at the top, checking out the still-menacing clouds, Stick and Mike arrived. This surprised me, because I thought I was behind them.

They told me they had stopped for water at the hut I passed by.

Before leaving the summit, the clouds were no longer just menacing, they were beginning to drop rain. It hadn’t reached us yet, but seeing this, it was our cue to depart from the summit.

We stopped on our hastened descent to put on rain gear. It took a little longer for me to pull mine out and put it on, so Mike and Stick left before I did.

At that moment, the rain stopped being a shower and became a torrent. Lightning flashed repeatedly.

I continued down the trail, which was quickly becoming a swollen stream of gushing water. I put my head down and continued on, splashing with each step.

Then, when I turned a corner, I saw Stick and Mike standing and waiting.

They told me they stopped for me because they thought with the lightning it was safer for us to hang together.

The heavy rain continued for about an hour, then let up just before we reached Swift Run Gap. There were two highways to cross here, U.S. 33 and Skyline Drive.

When we reached South River Picnic Area at about 5 p.m. we decided to stop and cook dinner. The air had turned chilly after the storm had passed through, so we kept our rain jackets on.

The picnic tables, running water and rest room made this a good place to stop.

A hiker named Orphan Andy arrived later and joined us for dinner.

Although it’s permissible to camp nearly everywhere along the trail, tents are not allowed in picnic areas, so after dinner we had to move on.

According to the Guthook app, a fire road about a half-mile away had a spot for two tents. Stick and I had tents, and Mike had a large tarp, so we weren’t sure we’d find enough room, but decided to head for the fire road anyway.

Calling it a road was a bit of a stretch. It was a narrow, rocky path just wide enough for a jeep. Pitching our tents on the road wasn't much of an option because the ground was packed firm and rocky.

Except for one spot, there was no clearing on either side of the road, but we were able to make do with the space we had.

We hung our bear bags from a tree farther down the road.

From humid heat to chilly rain, we experienced enough weather to make today a more challenging day than expected.

On balance, though, it was a good day. That’s all I want each day to be.