Whew, today was a tough day -- nothing wears you out like riding almost 6 whole miles. A ranger at Alley Spring warned me of an approaching storm front that promised 3 to 6 inches of rain and 50 mph winds. I called Allie, who offered a more beleivable report of 30 mph winds, and I decided to set up my tent and get out of the storm's path. I snapped a few pictures of the spring itself, as well as the mill neary, so enjoy these:
That last picture, by the way, is as artsy as I get. Oooooh, long exposure! So anyway, I set up my tent as the skies opened up, only to talk with a campground host, who mentioned that my tent was in a low area. Of course he was right, so, cursing myself as the rain thickened, I carried my tent and gear to a higher area (like, 3 feet higher). At this point I was pretty wet, but I still had to ride down the road to buy some supplies for dinner. I finally settled into my tent for a long afternoon of pounding rain and lashing wind. I made the most of it, reading and writing while waiting for the storm to abate, huddled in the corner of my tent while a pot caught the few raindrops that leaked through a hole in my tent's stitching.
In annoying fashion, the storm, while fierce, was soon over, and I could have simply waited it out at the mill before pedaling on. But I was already set up, and my gear was thoroughly soaked, so I stayed in place and called it a day.