Today was just kind of a weird day. The actual hiking was pretty easy, and we crossed paths with our old friend Starbucks. We mostly hiked separately today, just because we were going different paces. At one point, however, Bear Bell was ahead of me, and was stopped just beyond a tree. She told me to take my headphones out, and to slowly make my way around the tree, keeping as far left as I could. Sure enough, as I did the unmistakable sound of a timber rattler started up. He was coiled up right next to the trail. I’ll try to upload the video I took so you can all see/ hear it.
The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful, until we were about a mile from the Big Meadows wayside. It had been beautiful all day, but just as we were getting close to cover, it started sprinkling, so I stood under a tree. Then the sky opened up, and I pulled on my poncho as the tree stopped providing any cover. I just sort of stood there. Bear Bell passed by, and I said I’d meet her up at the cutoff trail to the wayside. I waited about 7 or 8 minutes for the drenching rain to slow down. It did, then the sun came out again. It rained just long enough to soak everything, then it got sunny again.
We finally made it to the Wayside, and there were a ton of other hikers there, including Obi-Wan, and Big Tuna who we haven’t seen since Hot Springs! We ordered some food and the famous blackberry shakes. Pro-tip… the fried chicken at Big Meadows wayside is incredible. After the food, we bought a six pack, and sat outside to debate what to do.
As all the hikers were chatting, and some of us checking the weather radar, we determined that a pretty significant storm was on the way. The next shelter was about 4 miles away, which would’ve been cutting it close…plus a lot of hikers were heading there. We considered paying for a tent spot in the campground, where we could at least get set up before the storm, but we ended up deciding to check the lodge to see if they had any rooms available. With that, Big Tuna, Obi-Wan, and the two of us headed up to the lodge. Lucky for us there was a room available with two beds, so we decided to take it and split the cost 4 ways. It was a tiny room, but we had a shower, which felt nice.
After we all cleaned up, we headed back to the lodge and staked out a spot in the tap room. It was from here, with beers in hand, where our decision was confirmed as a good one. A violent thunderstorm rolled in from the northwest, and we got to watch the whole thing. We had a great time getting to know the other two better, and had some good conversations.
But the weirdness wasn’t quite done for the day. After we left the tap room, around maybe 10pm, we were walking through the parking lot back to our building when we heard an older lady crying out for some help, her door was stuck. Obi-Wan and I walked over to find that she was stuck inside her room, and couldn’t figure out how to open the door. We eventually had to have her slide her key through a window (and I had to convince her that she even had a key) so we could open the door from the outside. It appeared that the problem was user error, possibly brought on by the empty bottle of wine I noticed on the dresser. I tried my best to explain how the deadbolt worked, and she thanked us profusely as we left.
All in all a strange day, but a good one. We’re looking forward to seeing an old friend tomorrow, and hoping the weather clears up so we don’t have to hike in the rain.
