Shortly after Tortoise retired to his tent and I to the shelter, a thunderstorm swept through soaking the ground. It also caused quite a bit of spray due to the wind and started dampening my sleeping bag. Luckily I had my tent at hand and I pulled out the plastic undersheet and covered my sleeping bag with that. So I managed to stay relatively dry. The rain stopped within the hour. I had my hearing aids out so I didn’t hear it but according to Tortoise the next morning, the whippoor-will sang continuously all night long and only stopped shortly after dawn.
In spite of waking up before 6:00 I didn’t hit the trail until 7:40 a.m. It was quite misty and the grass was very wet, and as a result my feet got soaked. The mist didn’t clear until 10:00 or so. At first little patches of blue would appear but only around noon was it a regular sunny day with clouds. So I had little to look at in the morning other than the plants at my feet.
Around 11:00 I came to the next shelter where I ran into Lucky whom I hadn’t seen in over a week, as well as Diane and Mike, who do not have trail names because they move so fast that they never get to know anyone. They say they’re doing 18 miles a day, which is more than most people in our age group are doing. I passed them, but very soon after that Diane and Mike shot past me – they really do walk fast.
It was a long day, over 21 miles, but I wanted to get close enough to Damascus that I could walk there tomorrow and still have most of the afternoon to spend in town.
The terrain has definitely changed. The hills are more rolling, the climbs and descents more gentle, the peaks lower. The going should get easier.
I got to Abington Gap shelter around 7:00 p.m. Mike and Diane were at the picnic table and we chatted for 10 minutes. Then they went to set up their tent. I did find a few wild leeks for lunch, and then in the afternoon I spotted a giant patch way down the hill so I climbed down and picked enough for both my mashed potato dish in my pasta dish. I think I got a good amount of roughage tonight.
I’m booked in a hostel in town for tomorrow.
Mile 438 to mile 460.8 = 22.8.
Also an hour after breaking camp I passed tge 440 mile point, which means I’m 20% done the trail in 31 days.
