may 4- scared back to damascus

Today, may 4, was one of those hiking days that are as mentally challenging as they are physically challening. I woke up early after a cold sleep, around 730am. It was a cold sleep because of the lighter sleeping bag that im now using. I sent my winter bag home, an old 10 degree sleeping bag that i thought was probably closer to a 40 degree bag. Thhough now that ive been using the 50 the past two nights i think my winter bag was about a 30 degree. When i started hiking today it wasnt too bad, it was about 40 degrees, and not too windy, and the rain hadnt started yet. the biggest problem was that i woke up feeling sicker than i was the day before. Just a cold, but it really makes hiking difficult. Congested, nose running, coughing, it made breathing uncomfortable, and it made every step a bigger effort. I took things kinda slow, but the slower i hike the longer it takes to get to the end, and i had a big day planned. 18 miles to the next shelter, and i was racing the rain. Things started going downhill about 6 miles in. I was starting to get wet from the mist and humidity, and the temp hadnt gotten any higher,. Stopping became something i tried not to do, as id get cold very within minutes of stopping. From there began the climb upwards. From about 3500 feet towards the goal of 5200 at the end of the day. The hike took me over a bald mountain with wind that was so strong i almost fell over from it a few times. And hiking through the cloud at the top soaked me thoroughly. Being wet and cold wouldnt have been so bad, ive been there before, but with my new lighter, less warm sleeping bag i didnt think id be able to survive the night even if i got to the shelter. Besides, a southbound hiker told me i was the 55th northbounder hed seen that day. On bad weather days everyone tries to get to the shelters, as nobody wants to set up ia tent n the rain. The shelter i was aiming for, at the end of my 18 mile day, only holds 14 people. With maybe enough space for two more. The shelter after that was 5 more miles, and only a 6 person. So the chance of getting a shelter spot was slim. I was cold, wet, sick, tired, and very very scared of not survivng the night. Looking back on it i probably wasnt in as much danger as i thought i was. But i was very scared at the time. About 13 miles in i began looking for a possible campsite. I was at about 4500 feet, which would be 3-5 degrees warmer than the shelter at the top, with less wind too. I got to a road at 15 miles in, and the terrain after it was a bald grazing land for cattle, and the elevation turned sharply upwards too. It was only 3 miles to the shelter, and still needed to climb another 1000 feet. I was about to go a little bit backwards into the forested area i had walked out of, to a campsite i saw just a few hundred feet back. But a hiker had just walked into the bathroom at the parking lot, and i wnated to see what they were planning to do, considering the bad weather. when i got closer i saw multiple backpacks outside the bathroom, and inside there were 7 hikers all taking shelter from the cold wet wind outside. Monk, coach, han solo, bluegrass, and a few others whos names ive forgotten were in there. They had called a shuttle to take them back to damascus, so of course i asked if i could get in on that. Theres nothing better than a warm place to sleep. The shuttle came and we got in the back of the pickup truck. There was 9 of us, and only 4 fit in the cab. It was a cold ride but was better than being out in the cold on the mountain. The ride took a little longer because we got stoppeed while a van was being pulled out of a river alongside the road. We gt back to damascus and after dropping our stuff off at the place were staying, we headed to the bar. I was surprised to see alpha dog, bear snack, garbear, blacksquatch, peanut, north star, and bean and vice there. I thought they were far ahead of me, but theyy had come back off the mountain too. Just an hour before i got to the road with the bathroom. After that we all got some food, then headed back to the house and watched a movie, step brothers. Its kind of late now, and i want to sleep, but everyone is still hanging out and im supposed to be sleeping on the couch. Its 1am, and we expect to do 17 miles tomorrow, through the rain...