Day 45 (Tuesday, May 27th) - Thomas Knob to Hurricane Mt. Shelter

Today's Miles: 16.00
Trip Miles: 511.40

We woke up to heavy fog and a forecast of thunderstorms. We all hung out hoping it might clear off a bit before we moved on toward the horses. It didn't look like it was getting any better so we put on our raingear and headed out.

Salty Mike

Just past the shelter we saw the wild horses. There were about a dozen of them grazing in the mist. There were mares with foals and colts, some pregnant mares and a couple of stallions competing for their attention. M and N, and A and Y were as happy as could be to see the horses; broad smiles all around. I may have been the most excited to see their excitement. I showed them the little trick of scratching the horses at the base of their manes and it seemed to work well. The horses seemed to enjoy the attention.

I wish N would be more excited to be here

Again the horses were after anything with salt on it, nipping at Mike's pant legs and going after Natalie's backpack. We spent an hour playing with the horses and shooing them away from our gear. We wanted to make it to Hurricane Mt. Shelter 16 miles away so we had to drag ourselves away from the horses of the Highlands.

About the time we left, the rains began. It wasn't too cold and the rain was off and on until we reached Wise Shelter about 5 miles away, and just over the 500 mile mark!! Woo Hoo! 500! To celebrate our achievement the thunder started and brought a hard rain with it. We sloshed our way to The Scales livestock corral and hid out under the restroom awning. Luckily the sun broke through and we continued up Pine Mountain with no rain.

We stopped to dry out and have lunch at the summit then pushed on to Old Orchard Shelter for some water. From there it was 5 miles to Hurricane and we set out. A good climb and a nice downhill to the shelter, but no room to camp. Not too much further on we found an old campsite along the river. We made a fire, had dinner, and five tired hikers hit the hay. I texted the Administrator (can't wait to see her).

Trying for twenty tomorrow.

TTFN

Misty mare

Andi found some friends

Andi, Yvanna, and Pferdchen

Mmm, delicious 

Yvanna being taste-tested

Funny, Mike has that same effect on women