Today’s plan was an easy 17-miler to Reed Gap. Or at least the plan seemed easy last night. But when we woke up, the weather forecast was for rain all day. And sure enough, the minute we got out of the car to start hiking, the heavens opened up.
The rain wasn’t too bad, though, since it was warm and humid out. So we didn’t get too cold. And I had purchased a poncho and umbrella at Walgreen’s before we left. (I had my own umbrella with me yesterday, but lost it during the hike. And I forgot to pack my poncho from home.)
Luckily, it only rained an hour or so. After that, the entire day was mostly fine – just some drizzles now and then. However, I did suffer some bad chafing. Because even if it only rains a little, and you have a poncho and umbrella, you still can get really wet. Oh, and the last 30 minutes were in a deluge, which isn’t fun. But since we were almost at our car, it wasn’t too bad.
Route to Reed Gap
Rain aside, the trail today led us up on top of some awesome ridges. The views obviously would have been WAY better in the sunshine, but they were still stunning with clouds.
I do have to admit that the NET is quite tough. The Ice Age Trail has lots of uphill, but nothing like this. It seems like all we’re doing it walking uphill, and up really steep hills. Plus the terrain is really rocky. That’s difficult on a rainy day, when rocks become very slick. Our pace is really slow on this terrain. My quads are trashed today, and it’s only day 3.
But, of course, we’ll persevere. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
We’re back for night #3 at the Holiday Inn Express in Meriden. It’s a great location if you like to day-hike.
Snowshoe and Stubs
Map Miles: 17
Map Miles to Date: 56.6
iPhone Miles: 16.9
iPhone Miles to Date: 55.1
Steps: 43,223
Steps to Date: 140,191
Flights Walked: 214
Flights to Date: 52
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