Start: Wilson Creek Shelter (AT mi 741.5). Stop: Daleville, Virginia (AT mi 730.3). Today’s miles: 11.2 miles. Total AT mileage: 1462.8 miles
I woke up hearing the others moving around and packing, but I succeeded in ignoring them until 6:30 ish. It had started to rain overnight off and on, little spritzes here and there.. then more steady as it came closer to morning. I realized my stuff was staying dry, even with one vestibule door on each side of my tent open, so I didn’t even get up to close the doors. I took my chances, figuring if worse came to worse, I’d be in a hotel tonight anyway and could dry out whatever I accidentally got wet. Luckily for me, only the outside of the tent was wet!
I changed my clothes and packed everything while still in my tent. Butterfingers had brought my food bag to me, so I even ate first before getting out into the rain. Once the majority was packed, I quickly brushed my teeth ein the rain-then took down the tent and packed it all in. I got on trail just after a few of the others, around 7:15 ish.
The trail was uphill for the first 6 miles, and while some of it definitely felt like a climb, the majority of it slowly sloped upwards. There were no views, there were no cool sightings. I did see a few deer dart off, but I didn’t get pictures. Honestly, for the majority of the morning I didn’t really take many pictures at all.
Around 11 the rain slowed to more of an off and on misting. Nothing too heavy. Plus, the trail started to go into some pastures and fields. They were a beautiful welcome, simply to see something other than wet trees. At some point the trail went by the sign telling me I’m 2/3 to Springer Mountain in Georgia! Only A THIRD to go! Man oh man, I was delighted to see that!
Before I knew it, I was walking out to the main highway and turning left to see the big sign for the Super 8 motel! As I was walking towards it, I passed a gas station and then heard men yelling at me.. I thought it was the dudes in the beat up truck at first, so I kept my focus forward and ignored them. Then, I see one guy dart out towards me.. it was TwoHats! I didn’t recognize him without his pack! Haha
I walked over to them and chatted. TwoHats, Soundscape, and BookWorm were just resting and eating before heading on to do more miles. They planned to hike out, camp tonight, hike farther tomorrow, and then get picked up and brought back to this motel tomorrow to zero on Wednesday. Wednesday looks like the worst weather day, so everyone is making plans to avoid it somehow. Butterfingers and I were going to call a guy to shuttle us south in the morning and then we’ll hike northbound back to Daleville.
We both checked into our rooms, happy as a clam that our rooms were even ready at 12:30! I was only asking for her to say, “nope not ready..” and for me to follow up with the, “can you hold my bag while I go run errands?” I got into my room and scoped it out. It’s most definitely the nicest Super 8 motel I’ve ever seen. I was suddenly so very grateful for TieDye for texting me and telling me about it. I put everything down, grabbed my wallet, mask, and the socks I was planning to return, and headed downstairs. A minute or two later, Butterfingers appeared and we walked across the street to a Mexican restaurant: Panchos.
Y’all. It was so delicious. I’m not exaggerating. Or maybe I am, I don’t know anymore. The chips were toasted to perfection, the margarita was on point, the fajitas burrito was glorious, the queso was incredible.. a complete masterpiece of a lunch, if I do say so myself. We ate like someone was going to snatch it from us at any given second, and we talked. We covered all topics: life, work before the trail, covid-all of it. It was nice to share a meal in town with someone else at a restaurant. I haven’t had that in awhile. It makes me miss my friends and my family.
After we ate, he headed back to his motel room, I started the mile plus walk to the post office. When I finally made it there, I picked up the package mom sent me. She tapes things like she wants no one to ever get into them-including me. I stabbed at it awhile with a pen before I finally got it open. She sent me a sweet note, plus the things I asked for: a specific pair of shorts, birth control, a towel, a new pair of socks and the papers to return my damaged darn tough socks.
The Darn Tough Socks brand are known for their lifetime warranty. One of my 2 pair got holes on the bottoms of them, where the ball of my foot and the arch meet. How? I have no clue, but it’s on the same spot in both socks. I filled out the envelope and put the old socks (washed of course) and the papers she sent me inside, sealed it and sent it off. Then I started my walk back.
Half way to the motel, I detoured to the Kroger-mainly to use their bathroom (gotta love drinking a margarita AND water and not using the bathroom before setting off on an excursion). But, since I was there, I went ahead and got my resupply done, as much as I could guess for now anyway. When I left, I walked to an outfitter in the same parking lot.. I ended up buying a liter water bag to use for the time being since my cnoc bag is coming closer and closer to its deathbed. I also ended up getting a 3oz tiny day bag that’s also waterproof. To test it out, I put everything in it (groceries and box of goodies from the post office and my phone and wallet), and then headed back to the motel.
It works phenomenally, by the way.. and I’m definitely using it tomorrow when I slack pack with Butterfingers. He text me to let me know he arranged our ride for tomorrow, the guy, Homer will pick us up at 7am from the motel. Then it can take each of us however long we want to hike back to the motel, since it’s practically right on trail. Awesome. I like when someone else makes the decisions and all I have to do is show up! Lol
I showered once I got back and then relaxed on the cushy bed watching the rest of a Netflix show I started awhile ago. It was so refreshing to just do nothing. Close to 6pm I ordered pizza delivery, mainly so I’d have something easy to pack out tomorrow for lunch on my slack pack. I ate, scrolled through social media, watched tv. Eventually I decided I had better sleep since my 7am departure time would show up sooner than I wanted it to.
And here we are. Laying in bed trying to get sleepy. Hopefully it’ll come soon, because I’m technically still wide eyed even in the complete dark. I hope you get some good sleep, too. Goodnight y’all.