Railsplitter and I got up around 8am today, putting one of the swamp reality shows on tv and lazily wasting the morning. We were both doing 10 miles (plus the 2 to the trail) to a shelter today. With that plan, we figured we should enjoy the comfort of the real world until we had to hike. Eventually we packed up and walked to the gas station for breakfast. I got a turkey egg and cheese with hash browns. Again their food was surprisingly good.
Railsplitter hiked on first, since I'm still slow to eat without my full hiker hunger. Once I started walking along the road I immediately remembered my distaste for it. People are much too comfortable buzzing the hikers.
When I did get back to the trail I was greeted by very open land. No dense bushes or trees, just fields of ferns and the occasional tree. The slope was constantly changing from ups and downs over the densely rolling fields, but there were no painful rocks which made it a joy to walk. I was also hopeful that the cool air and lack of bugs would be an ongoing trend for the day. Surprisingly it was!
I breezed over my first 5 miles of trail, except for one spot called the Lemon Squeeze. You have to take your pack off and raise it above your head, then shimmy through a little notch between two giant boulders. After that section of interesting challenges, I stopped at a shelter to take my shoes off. I was greeted by a couple leaving, and then another 4 hikers and a dog in the shelter. We chewed the fat for a bit while I let the sun dry my shoes, and Lost told me that there was a lake 1 mile ahead with vending machines and showers. Upon hearing this I immediately put my shoes back on and said "I'll see you there".
It was a quick and pretty mile of trail, and then a short hobble down a road to the lake. I found the couple there as I ran past them to the soda machine. Dr. Pepper doesn't seem to be doing it for me this time around, so I've been going with ginger ale. By the time I finished the can, the rest of the crew from the shelter had arrived. The next coin-op under our stern gaze was the Blue Bunny ice cream vending machine. My strawberry fruit popsicle was the perfect thing to consume while looking out across the beach and lake.
I left first, and after the annoying walk back to the trail, I got to see more of the same enjoyable terrain. I also got to see two large black snakes that didn't seem too happy by my presence.
I was quite excited when I found the shelter, because not only had it been a good day, but the shelter itself was in a great picturesque spot. The whole area is actually very big, and that's good because there are a lot of people camping here. So far there are the 6 people I met at the shelter and lake, Railsplitter of course, an older man named Professor, a young (maybe) Swiss guy named Smiley, and two SoBos who are brother and sister.
I got here relatively early, and staked claim to what I consider to be the best camping spot. No bugs for this guy tonight. I may not have seen them all day, but that doesn't mean much when the sun is setting. Professor started a fire to help smoke some out, and I used it to dry the seat of my pants.
Tomorrow has me hiking 15 miles to the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center. They have an outdoor pavilion they let hikers use that have showers and power outlets. Rejoice! There are so many opportunities to shower in this stretch of the trail that it's almost unnecessary. Almost.
