Nimblewill Nomad
Long Distance Hiker/Author
Journal 25-ODYSSEY 2021: Bama to Baxter-Hike On!
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Tuesday–March 16, 2021
Trail Day–025
Trail Mile–16.0/281.3
Location–West Dug Mountain Gap Road, then to Leland’s rustic cabin on Furnace Creek
Hard rain off and on last night. Leland’s Cabin has a tin roof. Something about sleeping warm and snug, rain pattering a tin roof!
And it’s still raining buckets this morning, lightning and thunder mixed in. Forecast is for this storm front to move on mid morning leaving light rain, but it’s still raining hard and steady at nine-thirty. No never mind though; Copperhead and me, we make up our
minds to go, and at ten we’re back to Snake Creek Gap, pack’s up, heads down and hammering.
And this is going to be a heads down and hammer sort of day as our destination is sixteen miles distant, over Mill Creek Mountain, Middle Mountain, Hurricane Mountain, and Dug Mountain, with plenty of obstacles thrown in. The trail 
through these Armuchee Mountains lies mostly along narrow exposed ridgetops strewn with rocks and boulders–and to add to the mix today, cold, wind-driven rain. Wet leaves and clay-lined washes add additional need for caution to the ongoing treachery. But we manage to stay mostly upright for eight hours, to emerge very wet and tired at West Dug Mountain Gap Road, where Leland soon comes to fetch us.
A trip to Longhorn Steak House in Dalton before returning to Leland’s secure little cabin on Furnace Creek brings the day around nicely. Few photo ops today…
When you come out of the storm,
you won’t be the same person who walked in.
That’s what this storm’s all about.
(Haruki Murakami)
2 Comments on “Journal 25-ODYSSEY 2021: Bama to Baxter-Hike On!”
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Nimblewill Nomad 
Love your perseverance!
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So excited to be reading your blog! I live in Pennsylvania about 20 minutes from bake oven knob! Keep trek in !!
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