Miles today: 13.4
Total miles: 18.6
Today was a good day. I slept through my watch alarm again (ive given up on it) and got up later than I wanted. I was on the trail by 8 and it was a wet drizzly morning which made it hard to get moving. I was sore from yesterday but after the first hour I felt good. I was alone for the first two or three hours. It was so peaceful with mist rising over quiet ponds surrounded by pines. A couple times I thought I lost the trail because the white blazes are not always very clear especially with intersections with other trails.
About two hours in I came to a register and saw two sobo girls were about 20 min in front of me. I hiked at a quick pace to try to catch up. I did before I knew it and met Brittani and Robyn. They are from Georgia and starting together and met bc of the AT. I was so glad I ran into them bc soon after was a river crossing. But it was no little rock hop across. There were rapids and white water and you had to walk in the water to make it to the other side. Another southbounder brendan was on the far bank and he said he fell while going across and got totally soaked. I was so scared and Brittani and Robyn were looking for places to cross while I decided I’d blue blaze (take a detour not on the AT for 0.9 miles) on the high water bypass trail. They eventually decided to also and we later found out everyone else did except one guy. I think usually the water is wayyy lower. This would prove true again when Brittani and I had to wade through water up to our upper thighs where the trail usually is. It was crazy. I did it barefoot so my shoes didn’t get soaked for days. I hiked with Brittani nearly all day. It was great to have company.
There are SO MANY bugs. It’s ridiculous. 100% deet helps but when you stop for just a minute you will get at least five bug bites. After all the bugs and several water crossings we made it to Abol Bridge. There is a small shop there and it’s the last place to resuppy before the 100 mile wilderness. When we got there we ran into James and Cool Blue (another southbounder) hanging out. I got two pieces of pizza and a soda and as we rested Robyn, Steve (MDot), Ray, Brendan all caught up. We set off in a nice little pack for the last 3.5 miles to the shelter.
The boys were so fast. I tried to keep pace with them but got worn out and ended up in the middle alone which was nice. I got to enjoy the wilderness and beautiful moss covered scenery.
We got to the shelter around 4 or 430. There are two older guys (Popeye and Thorny) doing the 100 mile wilderness and one flip flop hiker (Bus–he says it stands for Big Ugly and Slow). He’s already hiked from Georgia to Harpers ferry (the at halfway point). And now is doing Maine to harpers ferry.
I’m tenting tonight and so are many others. Met two other southbounders Mika and Brandon from Texas. James picked up his dog Mabel today so it’s fun to have her around. It was nice, we all cooked our dinners together and sat around chatting and trying to teach Mabel tricks. We’ve got a nice little group going. It is such a relief there are so many of us bc going southbound that doesn’t always happen. I think most of us are aiming to get to the next shelter tomorrow which is about 11 miles away. Everyone is sore and tired.
I’m actually feeling surprisingly good but the shelter after that is 19 miles and that does not seem like a good idea. I don’t want to push it so early and like the group so i will stick with them for now. And 13 was plenty today So I can’t imagine 19. It’s 8 pm and every one is in their tents winding down. I’m feeling good and happy. Originally when walking alone this morning I thought to myself “wow how am I going to do all this?” But now having found others my morale has picked up and I’m feeling good. Excited for tomorrow especially because the next shelter is supposed to have a swimming hole (I’m getting stinky I think).