Today's miles 19. AT miles 1565.2
A wet start today, it rained all morning, it was a refreshing change from walking in the heat though. Not particularly heavy rain and still warm enough to walk in shorts and t shirt. We got more wet from the sodden overgrown grass, shrubs and trees on the trail than the rain. We left the motel at 7:50 after a blueberry muffin and fruit breakfast included with the stay. It was uphill initially then the trail stayed pretty level around 2000ft for the next fourteen miles.
We passed Finerty Pond and a large tree at the side of the pond that Mr or Mrs beaver had been gnawing away at. If the beaver returns to complete its task I'm not sure what it'll do with it or even how he'll move the huge tree?
About halfway we passed The Cookie Lady's house. We met Roy the Cookie Man. He and his wife Marilyn have been providing cookies to hikers for years. They also sell soda, boiled eggs and blueberries when in season. They have a big blueberry farm. We had a soda each with our delicious cookies and Nigel had a couple of boiled eggs. A great halfway rest stop.
The rain had just about stopped by the time we left the Cookie Ladies house. The trail however seemed to get muddier and muddier and parts of it turned into small streams. It's harder to try and avoid the mud, easier to just walk through it. We were very muddy by the time we reached Dalton. Luckily there was a small stream just before hitting the town to wash most of the mud off our boots, gaiters and legs.
We arrived in Dalton about 4pm and headed straight for the Post Office before it closed at 4:30 to collect our bounce boxes. Dalton seemed such a long way away when we posted them back in Luray about 630 miles back and now we're here.
We only have the same distance again, 620 miles, to walk to complete the trail! We checked in at The Shamrock Village Inn motel. Milky and his two hiker friends (forgotten names) where here too plus another section hiker. After showering we were hungry so went to the Shamrock Pub (same name but different business to motel) for dinner. We ended up having three courses, we can't normally eat that much so must have been hungry.
We only have the same distance again, 620 miles, to walk to complete the trail! We checked in at The Shamrock Village Inn motel. Milky and his two hiker friends (forgotten names) where here too plus another section hiker. After showering we were hungry so went to the Shamrock Pub (same name but different business to motel) for dinner. We ended up having three courses, we can't normally eat that much so must have been hungry.
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