Date: 2014-07-03
From: Graymor Spiritual Center

To: RPH
Miles today: 18.8

In which I finally get to order a pizza from the shelter and I meet new faces.I survived last night's storms and stayed pretty dry in my tent. I even slept fairly well. Al and I left around 0730 and leap frogged each other all day. It was very humid already and after a short hike I was drenched. I think I've had 4 liters of water today and am still dehydrated.The hike today was nothing to write home about. Mostly forest with ferns or pines and a whole lot of biting mosquitos. They feasted on me and I broke down and put on the DEET midmorning. Wouldn't you know that stuff actually helped. I no longer was their meal.There weren't too many views either, just hiking up and down but not as intense as it has been. It's been the kind of day you just plod through and enjoy the people around. And today that was Al, who I hadn't hiked with since NC or VA. So we caught up on events, people and our families and had a nice lunch at a random stealth site in the middle of the woods. It still was sunny but then we heard a clap of thunder.So we got up and started hiking again and passed another park with a lake. It was another 1.5 mile walk to the side of the lake housing the concession stand. I wasn't planning on going there so I took a brief break and told Al I'd catch up in just a few. I was hustling to catch up. It took me a little bit but eventually I spotted Al ahead of me. No sooner than that I found myself sliding down a big rock on my bum with my left knee twisted behind me, my pole stabbing me and my hip taking the brunt of the fall. Ouch! That didn't feel too good. There's gonna be a bruise somewhere after that. Everything thankfully appeared to be in working order so I gingerly popped up and continued hiking. I thought Al wasn't too far ahead of me but I never saw the rest of the day until he came into the shelter later that night. Come to find out he took an unexpected detour then watched me go flying up and over a hill. He went down to the lake and concession area, I went on to the shelter because pizza was calling my name and the clouds were looking ominous.As I walked towards the brook before the shelter I saw a flip flop in the trail. I thought to myself that it looked too clean to be a thru hikers and I walked by. I came to the brook where I also met up with Mike who I likewise hadn't seen since Al was catching up with him back in NC or VA. So we caught up with each other and collected water. He was hiking on and I took a little bird bath. Feels good to get the days' grime wiped off even if it is short lived.I made it to the shelter just as Mike was headed out to hike a few more miles. I was surprised that Al hadn't made it to the shelter yet. I still was thinking he was ahead of me, but no. I met two other girls hiking- SOHO and Wildflower both from Germany. It was very nice to have other females around.I finally got my chance to order a pizza from a shelter. This was the third and final shelter from which to do this and I did. Third time is the charm! A whole cheese pizza just for me and two root beers. It was so good and so worth the wait. I could only eat three pieces though. That was disappointing but now I had breakfast for the morning and Al finally showed up so I gave him some.I got my clothes washes and hung to dry just as the skies opened up. It began to rain and thunder and I am really glad to be under cover tonight. This shelter has three sides of cinder blocks and one open side open with a porch roof. There are bunk beds in the shelter so I've claimed a bunk on the bottom and am now writing by headlamp in my bed. The mosquitos have discovered me and that is a little annoying but I am dry and full and content.Also the case of the random flip flop on the trail has been solved. It belongs to Mike. Al picked it up and carried it until they meet again. Mike has a habit of loosing things off his pack come to find out and Al is the clean crew. Funny.