Date: 2009-06-17
From: James Fry (Tagg Run) Shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 26.5
Weather: light rain

I planned to do a 26.5 mile day, so I wanted to get an early start. I got up at a reasonable hour, carried my things out of the shelter and headed down to the trail to properly put everything away and cook breakfast so as not to disturb anyone. I used the bridge as my bench, and collected water from the river. It was only when I looked back that I saw a sign for the southbounders saying that the river was contaminated and that there were two springs ahead... Great... I had steripenned the water in my Nalgene and transferred it to my platypus, but I took no care in wiping the lip of the Nalgene, and it only takes one drop of contaminated water to make you sick. I decided not to drink any water if I could make it, as I did not want to contaminate my drinking tube. I made it to Whiskey Spring Rd, 6.2 miles later, where there was a huge pipe gushing into a river. It was a bit treacherous getting to the water, but I managed, and felt better about dumping out the contaminated source.   A couple of miles later, it started to rain. I had a climb to Center Point Knob, and later found myself traversing through fields of corn in the rain. Whenever I came to an intersection, I hoped the buildings would be a store of some sort so I could get some shelter for awhile. However, I only came to homes and farm buildings. I knew Boiling Springs was coming up and I was thinking it would be nice to wait out the rain in a cafe for awhile. However, my book said the town was a mile off the trail.. yet another dilemma. I checked my e-mail and found one from Truckin', saying that she missed me! That made me so happy! I didn't think that she thought about me anymore. She thought that I had just passed her or was close behind, which was funny because I am 9- 10 days behind her!   As I got to the road, no cars seemed to want to pick me up in the rain. I debated eating a quick lunch under a tree, but pressed on. I came to a nice river with a lot of ducks and geese in it. I saw a loon and a duck get into a fight. Apparently, the loon got too close to the baby ducks, and the mother wanted it to move away. They both got up on their hindfeet in the water, flapped their wings, and squawked in each other's face. I saw a gazebo ahead and thought that would be a good place to get out of the rain and have lunch. Then I noticed a building that looked like it could be a store ahead. It turned out to be another ATC office! I ate my lunch at the picnic table under the roof. I later found out that they sold denatured alcohol, so I got some of that. It was nice and warm inside! I decided it would be best to warm up a little, so I sat on the couch and read through the registery. Finally, I decided to move on. A soaking wet couple that had just come from where I was going to asked where I was headed. "You've got a long walk ahead of you," the woman responded. Gee, thanks...The terrain was flat, through more fields and edges of farmland. The rain had lightened up a bit when I started back out, but it soon picked up again. I found more mulberry trees and enjoyed a few more berries.      There were several road crossings, and it wasn't until I came to the cowfarm, that I matched up the road to my guidebook. It told me I had five more miles to go. I knew I wouldn't get there until 8, but that was okay. After getting lost for awhile at a place where we were supposed to take a U- turn and go under a bridge to get back on the trail, I picked up my pace and quickly took down the last few miles of the day, including the last climb. I arrived at the shelter to find the bunks full. Sunbeam, Half Moon, Squeegie, Zipper, and Jeremy were all there and just about ready for bed. I took a place on the floor, took out my contacts, changed, and snacked on beef jerky and trailmix as Leif E and McBride rolled in and took the floor space next to me. I thought about how natural it had become for me to sleep in this kind of environment, which was hard to imagine not too long ago...