Day 112 - 21st July - Greenwood Lake to Fingerboard Shelter - 16.4 miles

Water is a worry on this stretch, but we find lots of gallon containers of water, all full. Thankyou so much to all those trail angels who take the responsibility to make sure the hikers can keep on hiking.

We walk with Sourdough and Sweet Tea. Trish drives us back up the road to the trail. At the first shelter we stumble across Stickwalker and Belle the Wonderdog, who also walk with us for the day.

It is great hiking today - hard rock climbs to viewpoints and lake views. I watch in amazement as Belle the Wonderdog navigates through the cliffs and manages delicate descents with style, while carrying her own saddlebags stuffed with her food. We struggle through the 'lemon squeezer' a long narrow gorge which requires a tight squeeze with pack.

It rains twice which cools down the day. The first shower is great. But the second shower becomes a thunderstorm which is very heavy. The temperature drops quickly and next thing we are being pelted with hail. The lightening is very close and the thunder is really loud. We huddle against a pine tree and soon we are soaked to the skin. We make the decision to stay at the next shelter and we arrive soaked and cold, with no water. Stickwalker and Belle are already settled in, and Sourdough and Sweet Tea arrive an hour after us.

Digby rigs up a tarp to trap water for drinking and this saves us from dying of thirst in the storm. We have a cosy night in the small shelter with 6 bodies plus dog. Sweet Tea is having blister trouble. Her back up team - her husband Gene has gone back to Alabama and now Sweet Tea is carrying all her stuff for the first time. We watch in amazement at the junk she is carrying. We ditched all the extras a long time ago - about day 5 - this is day 3 for her carrying a real pack - she still carries shampoo, conditioner, facecream. If she has any chance of surviving she needs to get rid of all her extras.