Date: 2018-05-30
From: Chatfield Shelter

To: Quarter Way Inn Hostel
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Today started out miserable. A real test for my patience. Woke up to heavy rain at 6:00am. Too heavy to breakdown my tent without drenching the inside. There was a constant pitter patter of rain drops berating my tent¢s rain tarp. I fell back asleep until 8:00, later than I wanted to start, but the rain had eased to just a light shower. I untied my food bag hanging from a tree nearby and hurried back to my tent to eat. Soon after I started hiking was when I noticed the trail was much different than yesterday. I mentioned in the previous post how much a nuisance the jagged rocks were jabbing at my feet. But today the trail was all mud. Nothing but 3-4 inch squishy sloppy slippery mud. I couldn¢t care less about getting dirty. I¢m filthy out here, trust me, and no one cares. The problem with this mud is I couldn¢t get any traction to walk. Hiking became an arduous task trying to propel yourself forward but if you gained too much momentum your back foot would give out and you¢d slip. This went on for 5 miles. I did stumble upon a turtle at one point. As I trudged through the mud I noticed a bright yellow and brown shell on the ground planted into the mud. I almost through it was a huge egg before I figured out it was a turtle. It wasn¢t moving. I picked up the shell and peaked inside and saw the two slitted nostrils of the shell¢s resident. I put it in the grass off to the side of the trail.  In addition to the mud there were several sections where the trail crossed into large fields of tall grass. 2-3 feet tall and soaked in fresh rain. As I walked down the trail the grass drenched my shorts. Lastly was my left eye. I must¢ve gotten pollen on my hand when walked through the grass. I rubbed my eye at one point and that¢s all it took to have an allergic reaction and my eye swell up and start itching. I took some Claritan but that did little to help. I finally made it to route VA 683 and US 11 where there were a couple gas stations. I bought a Vanilla Coke from the Sunoco and sat on the beach outside while I made a salami and cheese sandwich. It was just one of those days. The trail after that 5 miles wasn¢t as bad. Still some muddy parts but rare enough that it became tolerable. The day began to pick up when I turned the corner of the trail and came face to face to a doe. The doe popped up its head and then turned and bounded into the trees and brush off of the trail. As I was bidding the doe ¢have a good day¢ I noticed the fawn on the trail only 10 feet away from me. It was frightened, crouching low to the ground. The poor thing so scared. I talked calmly to it, ushering it to go to its mother and after a minute it slowly got up and walked into the tall grass and brush off to the side of the trail. Happy that it was out of immediate harms way I went along on my hike, the doe intensely watching me from 20 yards away. After a long day I was happy to finally make it to the Quarter Way Inn Hostel. Aptly named because shortly before getting to the hostel I passed the 25% mileage marker for the AT. Yes that¢s right. I¢m a quarter done! The hostel is an updated farmhouse. Big lawn with a huge sycamore tree with hammock swings tied to it. It¢s run by a woman named Tina and she was the absolute nicest woman. The home was comfy and it felt great to be in a comfy home for a changed. I showered and had my clothes washed. I ate dinner and chatted with the other hikers at the hostel. Lost and Found, V-Dub, Crypto, Jynx, Peter Pan Sasquatch, and Reflex. There is even an extensive VHS collection so we sat down on the couches and chairs and watched The Fugitive with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones while eating pizza and ice cream. Overall interesting day. Glad to be sleeping indoors tonight with clean clothes on. Tomorrow I¢m going to hike a lot.