Date: 2019-04-09
From: Muskrat Creek shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 4.0

April 9 (Day 17): We woke up to fog and puddles and mud, but the rain had stopped. More bad weather was due in, however. There were 2 people in the shelter that snored loud and hard enough to wake the dead! If they hadn't been there it would have been a pretty quiet night but boy oh boy, not much sleep was had by the rest of us.The day before, Diesel mentioned that when she was climbing up to Muskrat, she had stepped wrong between 2 rocks and now the top of her right foot was giving her pain and when she stepped on it to climb it was really painful. We knew exactly where it had happened. I bet those rocks had caused other hikers problems too.David, Funshine, and Pebbles were packed up and ready to go and Diesel had just gotten to the shelter to make her breakfast, so I told them to go on and I would hike with her and Nash.After they ate, we started out, but went slowly. She was worried that she might have a stress fracture and that would end her hike. The night before we decided to get a shuttle into Franklin.We all met at Deep Gap and took shuttles into Franklin (NC). Shuttles are basically folks that have started a business shuttling hikers back and forth into town from locations on the trail. Some charge fair prices and some don't. Usually $10/ person is the going rate.Diesel had booked us a room at a place called the Sapphire Inn. The place was old and kind of sketchy looking. David wanted to move but since we were there and we would have to pay for another shuttle somewhere else, we just stayed. In the end, it worked out for the best.Funshine, Pebbles, David, and I took the MTA (Macon Transit Authority) to Walmart to resupply. It only cost $1.00 each. We did our shopping and then headed back to the motel. While we were gone, Diesel had walked up to the urgent care clinic and had her foot checked. It wasn't a stress fracture but the dr told her to take at least 2 days and rest it or it could become one. When we got back to the motel, I went in and took a shot. For the last 3 days I could feel welts on my behind and at night they would itch unbearably, but if I scratched them it burned. After my shower David insisted we go to the urgent Care clinic and get them checked out. So off we hiked, passing Diesel, who was just coming back from there. It didn't close till 7 and we got there a little after 6. The Dr saw me and said that the welts were bug bites and they had become infected. He called in 3 prescriptions to the Bi-Low Grocery and Pharmacy. The pharmacy closed at 8pm. We needed to walk fast. The Dr gave us directions and we walked and walked but still did not see the store. David finally stopped by a pizza place and the owner came out to point down the road to where the store was. Then he went back into his store, grabbed his car keys and said ¢Come on. I'll give you a ride.¢ He offered to wait till we got the Rxs and give us a ride back to the motel. Unfortunately, the pharmacy had just gotten my orders and there was one ahead of me so it would be 12 hour. David went out and told Mr. Lomonaco thanks but it would be 12 hour. Mr. Lomonaco had given us his business card earlier so told us to just give him a call when we were ready and he would come back and pick us up. Angels are everywhere!We got our ride back to the hotel and then ran across the street to McDonald's for a bite. The tramily had done laundry at the motel so we had clean clothes. I told the tramily about the meds I had to take (2 oral and 1 ointment) and needless to say, I rejected the trail name ¢Buttpaste¢. :) It was 9pm and we were exhausted. We hiked 4 miles on the AT and goodness knows how many in town.