Enjoyed camping with your group and I barely made it to the shelter after a nights rest
The last 2 miles to the shelter was steeper than the climb to Stone Door. Some parts of the trail was pretty much a rocky drainage ditch straight up.
I went 50/50 after I lost my one of my crocs in a creek crossing. I made the mistake of trying to grab it and fell in. When I looked up I saw my croc and one of my carbon fiber hiking poles floating down stream. I had to make a split second decision on saving one of them. The carbon fiber pole won. It ended up being the right decision for the wrong reason. The poles were a requirement for the creek crossings. I realized the Keen hiking shoe had much better traction than the crocs and eventually went 100% Keens on the last 3 crossings. If it had been winter I would have kept the shoes dry. If I had to do it again I would have brought some water shoes that I left behind because they were a couple ounces heavier than the crocs.
It was a great trip. I realized we only filmed some of the easier creek crossings because we were in survival mode on the others. The rain earlier in the week brought the level up. I think it was the number of crossings requiring constant concentration that made it an adventure. I have crossed creeks that high and rivers even higher but these crossings were deceiving in the amount of water flowing. My hiking poles were literally humming like guitar strings
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