Day 102 - Monday, October 2, 1995 - Screeching savage strobes of lightning, apocalyptic thunder, and drenching rain harassed the camp through the night.
The walkers awoke to find themselves flooded. Soaked and muddy, possessed of a growing sense of foreboding, they packed up and moved on down Route 70 heading west through Arkansas.
After a steamy, soggy morning, the walkers saw the Sun peek out for a while, giving them an opportunity to dry some of their gear. They walked most of the way to Little Rock, Arkansas, and then drove ten miles beyond in their support vehicles to find a camp. It had been a long day of fruitless efforts to make contact with organizations or campsites to the east of Little Rock.
Eventually, the Sunbow walkers settled in for the night at the Pinnacle Mountain State Park, about ten miles out of Little Rock. Just after nightfall, once again, violent storms rumbled in from the west—this time spinning off a series of mini-tornadoes.
In the course of the storm, a small, violent whirlwind struck the Sunbow camp and knocked over all but two tents. No one was hurt, but all were shaken. Some walkers with credit cards retreated to the local Motel 6 for safe harbor, while most bivouacked on picnic tables under the park pavilion, and there pondered this dark omen before they slept through the night.
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Copyright 2006 by Steven McFadden
Read Day 103 -- Odyssey of the 8th Fire