The rain never stopped last night. I am so grateful for “The Tank”. This was the name for our home for the night. A Class C Motorhome that has been permanently parked at Ralph & Karen’s home. I can only imagine how many hikers have slept in this rig. The stories it could tell!

Blue and I headed into the house, had breakfast of coffee and more coffee. I was looking at the weather. Nothing but rain. Is this ever going to stop? Well, not today. Ends up I received a weather alert from the ATC, Appalachian Trail Conservancy that the trail has been washed out and closed in several areas south of us. Bear Mountain in NY and Southern Vermont are impassable. Hmm, didn’t mention New Hampshire so I think we are clear to go. We packed up our bags and Ralph gave us a ride to the trail.

The Warning from the ATC: A state of emergency has been declared in Vermont due to flash flooding and flood watches/warnings are in effect for counties along the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. Several roads have been closed in southern Vermont which may affect access to the A.T. The heavy rain may cause flooding.

The trail was wet, flowing with lots of water and besides Blue and I, we didn’t see another soul. We headed north towards Moose Peak. The terrain was typical, ups and more ups with forests, ferns and lots of green foliage. The mushrooms are loving this wet environment and I saw so many along the way.

As we headed up to Moose Mountain, we passed a couple of low lying flood plains. No wonder it’s called Moose Mountain because this is prime territory for these majestic creatures. Once again, Blue and I saw nothing, nada, zilch. I don’t know if they’re hiding out because of the rain or just hiding out? We continued up the mountain until we reached Moose Mountain Shelter.

When it rains, or downpours, there’s really no place to stop to eat, unless you can find a Shelter close to the trail. Lucky for us, Moose Shelter was only .1 miles from the trail. We hiked in and met Physics. He’s a thru-hiker who started back in Georgia on March 15th. He was buying time as his wife was driving from South Carolina to spend a couple of days with him. He also needed some cold-weather gear for “The Whites.” Blue and I ate some snacks and proceeded north. Physics was right behind.

Within a few minutes, we made it to the peak, and it was a downhill slide, literally, as we made our way down to the gully. The rain was still pounding us and the dirt, mud, leaves and rocks were slick as snot. Somehow, someway, Blue and I maintained, somewhat, perfect balance. Well at least we never landed on our bottoms.

Once down to the road, we had one more climb for the day. It started out fairly flat, then a boardwalk that was overflowing with water from the last 24 hours of deluge! We passed Beaver Pond that was more like a Bog, completely soaked our shoes and socks and started our final climb up to Holt’s Ledge. It was a bit steeper than Moose Mountain. No, it was a lot steeper! For the first time this year, I had my rain jacket and umbrella in use. The rain jacket isn’t such a bad thing but the umbrella really blocks my vision.

The trail was a river and hard to tell what was a trail and where I was suppose to get my drinking water from. At one point, I pushed my umbrella to the side because it was a raging river coming down the mountain. I checked my FarOut App to make sure I hadn’t missed a turn. It confirmed that I was directly atop the trail, that just so happened to be a torrent of water. That’s just perfect!

Blue and I made it to the ledges and the rain finally subsided. The views were still obscured but at least my umbrella wasn’t the reason I couldn’t see anything. I could only imagine what I may have seen. Yet, I was as happy as a clam that I have a trail to navigate, and a hiking partner that is crazy as me. What an adventure we have had.

The rest of the afternoon was a slog heading down. We saw one other hiker heading up as we were finishing up our day. He must’ve waited till the rain stopped, trying to get in a few miles during a break in the storm. As we arrived to our destination, Mary Poppins caught up with us. She hiked an additional five miles, never stopped and made it virtually the same time as Blue and I. That woman ceases to amaze me.

Darrell picked us up and drove us to The Dowd’s Country Inn in Lyme, NH. It’s an restored Bed and Breakfast that caters to all sorts of guests. Today they had 10-15 wet hikers who were looking for shelter from the rain. I’m thinking this rain has got to stop sooner or later! From what the locals are saying, they have never had such a wet and rainy year. Just my luck!

The three of us walked, in the rain, walked to the Country Store and purchased some items to make dinner. Charcuterie Board it is. Meats, cheeses, crackers, fruit and salad. Much better than any dehydrated meal I have in my pack. We had hot tea, chocolate and a proper table to sit at. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Today, we had some choices to make. Should we stay or should we go? Did we want to hike long miles or do what we could to get closer to Maine? Blue and I chose to get on the trail, and hike as far as we could. Even with the pouring rain, we still laughed, stayed positive and somehow someway, made it to our next destination, Lyme. This sets us up for two more days before we start our serious business of climbing Moosilauke, our first big obstacle before entering The Whites. All that we have done in the past week or so, is preparing us to tackle what is to come. With God’s good graces, we are continuing north, ever so carefully and thoughtfully.