Lone Star Hiking Trail Day 4
It's a raining. Thundering and a lightening as well. The tent is holding up decently for the moment. I didn't set up the rain fly as tightly as I should have for optimal rain coverage since all I wanted was to get into bed last night as quick as possible. I'm currently questioning that decision. I can hear the thunder moving away but the rain is still going strong. Going to try sleeping a little more through the rain dive bombing my shelter.
I didn't find much more sleep after getting woken up by the rain.
So much can happen when you walk around all day.
What started out looking like I would only be encountering water coming from the sky quickly turned into streams of water coming from all directions. After what only seemed like minutes my boots were completely soaked with my feet swimming inside.
Each time I had the "it can't get any wetter than this" thought only moments later I was proven very wrong. Before I gave up on my feet having any kind of chance of dryness, I tried jumping over a small river. I might as well have just walked straight through it. My feet would have come out the same and I would not have lost my water filter. At one point I was wading hip deep in the flooded swamp waters near Lake Conroe. At that point there was no other option than to make it to the last trailhead.
At least the trees were marked!
For being so rainy there were a lot of people out today. And somehow all the hikers I crossed paths with had dry looking legs. Either they were prepared for the wet, Texas has some magic waterproof pants that no one else knows about, or learned how to walk on water but that last one is pretty unlikely. Both parties I warned about their upcoming underwater adventures told me there was more of the same coming up for me. One one side I highly doubted they had walked through a shallow lake at any point that day, however on the other hand I would not have been surprised (and at that point I did not really care anymore) if there were more hidden leg-swallowing bodies of water. As it turned out there was one section that looked similar to what I had previously encountered. The stretch the other hikers were referring to had one difference however. It had a bridge. Albeit, some of it was covered in water.
It wasn’t pretty but it worked (mostly).
Water came up to my shins at worst on the 10 feet of submerged boardwalk.
So, to the men who I warned of their impending circumstances. If you made it to what my warnings referred to: I hope you understand now why I gave you quizzical looks when you said "more of the same" and yes, I waded through that in a dress.
When I reached the second to last trailhead I was ready to be done and the last 6 miles couldn't go by fast enough. I managed to muster up what remained of my energy and motivation to push through the last few miles and reached the final trailhead a little after 6 pm. Oddly, finishing the last mile was even more stressful for me than was any of the other sections. While on the trail I knew where I stood. I didn't have to worry about anything except getting myself to my next checkpoint. Other people weren't of any real concern. Of course the moment I got off the trail I was at the mercy of the cell tower placement people and the local Uber drivers. As the last mile of anxiety might have foreshadowed what I subconsciously already knew, my adventures for the day did not stop after mile 96.5.
After I entered the trailhead area and sent my coordinates to my family I turned my phone on. Surprise surprise I didn't have service. I walked the few hundred feet to the closest intersection and found 1 itty-bitty bar. That one bar allowed the Uber app to tell me no Uber would drive out to get me and neither would any taxi services close by. Bummer. Naturally, my body decided to go into panic attack mode. Standing on the side of a relatively busy road, darkness looming nearby was not my ideal post 29 mile activity. Nor is what happened next.
Talking my mom on the phone trying whatever means necessary to stay calm and going through the list of people we know who live in the Houston area. Needless to say that list is pretty short (including people we have never met, i.e., youtube vloggers etc.). After coming up short, my mom decided to call the local police department. Not exactly ideal since I didn't feel like it was an emergency worth their time. Without any other options I reluctantly obliged to be picked up by the deputy from Montgomery. The upside to this situation? I got to ride in the back of a police car! Bars and all. I'll probably never get the chance to say that again. During the drive back to Montgomery I learned that these types of "extractions" from the LSHT aren't uncommon. This made me feel slightly better. Only slightly.
After I was dropped off at the Montgomery Walmart and had ordered my Uber I used the 15 minutes to get some post hike foods. Needless to say I walked out with two boxes of raspberries, broccoli, carrots and hummus (plus a pair of sweats but you can't eat those).
As I waited the last few minutes for my Uber by the front door I conversed with the young woman manning the door (idk how else to describe that job). She asked about my soggy condition and I described the trail. My lack of any southern-ness also lead to inquiring about where I hail from. Of course Seattle brought up the comment about rain. After the weather conditions of today I am never complaining of the drizzling we encounter in the north west.
My Uber driver was no exception to the kindness I have encountered throughout this adventure. As I was getting acquainted with him and his Dodge Ram (earth, please forgive me and this completely unnecessary Uber car), a man I had seen walking out of the store tapped on the window. Thinking I knew him the driver rolled down the window for me. The man said he had over heard the conversation I was having in the store and offered me a place to stay. Uhhhhh. Thanks but no thanks. He seemed nice and all but I'm not that adventurous. Plus, my airbnb was waiting for me in Shiro (now that I know that the are zero ways out of Shiro without owning a car maybe I should have stayed in Montgomery... still probably not).
Only a few classic country songs later (and passing the trailhead again [facepalm] I found my way into my little cottage and straight into the shower (with my socks on... I was too scared to look at my prune-y toes just yet). And that concluded my adventurous first ever "thru" hike!
Notes:
Sandals are necessary (for me)
Plan extraction before starting a thru hike
Expect odd looks from small children in stores post hike due to your wet puppy dog smell and attire
Oatmeal is really good breakfast food
I tend to not eat after I'm in my tent for the evening
After drinking unpurifed and unfiltered yellowish water, doubling up seems like overkill (backups are not bad though)
Nuun tablets take your mind off potential bacteria laden water
Waterproof boots should be renamed water retaining boots
I love hiking dresses
Drying gear is a pain
Not having a knife is pretty inconvenient when it comes to blisters
Total miles: 96.5/96.5 ✔