Date: 2018-05-21
From: Pine tree campsite

To: Davis Hallow Campsite
Miles today: 19.9

Last night was not to bad for sleep with the bubbling stream nearby. Pumpkin Spice did snore loudly through the night but the stream provided sound over it. We packed up. I ate a breakfast of freeze dried biscuits and gravy.  It was a mountain house meal that I got for free from trail days.  I don't usually buy them since they are 4 times the price of hiker food you can get at the grocery store. We headed out planning on hiking to Aktins, about 17 miles away.  I looked like it was going to be a hot day.  I hiked about 2 miles then checked my phone for signal. I haven't had much from here to Damascus. Luckily there were full bars from the ridge line. I gave Theresa a call since I'll be meeting up with her soon to hike together.  As I was talking to her, I could hear thunder in the distance. A storm was rolling in. It started raining, then it rained harder. It kept on raining for the next 5 miles to Partnership shelter. I decided not to put on my rain jacket since the rain was a reprieve from the heat. My shirt was soaked though.  At partnership shelter, it had it all. It was next to Pat's visitors center with flushing toilets and showers. They even had a courtesy phone to call into town for pizza. The shelter itself had two stories and was well put together. Poncho, Bandito, Pumpkin Spice, and Chill decided to catch the shuttle into Marion for Mexican food and a movie. I wanted to push on to meet up with Scissors and Kamikaze. They hopped on the shuttle and I stayed behind. The visitor's center also had a live hellbender. It's the largest salamander on the east coast. It looked like it came right out of the dinosaur age. The visitor center attendant said that it lays under the same rock all day. At night they become active to eat crawfish and minnows. He said it was important not to move rocks in streams since that can destroy their home that they use all their lives.  Hellbenders can live up to 30 years!I hiked out from the visitors center. Not long after I was greeted with large fields of ferns. The pattern of ferns make it look like one of those magic eye books. It seemed to play tricks with the landscape. In about 7 miles I arrived at the next shelter. It was jam packed and there wasn't much space for tenting. I took a small break there since I had another 4.5 miles to Atkins. In about 2 miles I arrived at the Lindamood One Room school house. It was used until 1937 and the Baptist Church used it to leave trail magic!  It had coolers of soda and water, resupply meds, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, anti itch cream, chips, and cookies. I replaced my toothbrush and toothpaste there. From there it was half woods half field hiking. The trail became slick mud and tried keep to the grass. My feet slipped every which way and my ankle didn't like that too much.  I arrived in Atkins around 8:30. Sadly Burrito Loco was closed on Mondays!  I was able to grab some gas station grub though and bought heet to refuel my alcohol stove. The two gas stations were right next to the highway. I wasn't going to camp in the area so I pushed on in the dark.  It was my first time on the trail that night hiked. The trail was still slick mud and I could hardly see the trail markers. I came to a sign that said Davis cemetery and decided to go visit. It was on top of a hill in a large field surrounded by a fence with a large tree in the middle. The gravestones were weathered by the rain and looked eerie at night. Even though the place was spooky, the field was lit up by thousands of fireflies.  I had forgotten that it was that time of year. Their little butts twinkled in the distance.  From the gravesite I was determined to stop at the next campsite. I hiked thru a cow pasture trying to avoid the cow patties with what little light I had. I climbed over a fence then immediately saw a flat pad. It was were I would be camping for the night.  I had to setup my tent and hang my bear bag in the dark. It wasn't that much more difficult than doing it during the day. I made a dinner of couscous and had a Snickers for dessert. I talked a bit more to Theresa about our plans for meeting up. I heard strange noises next to the fence I climbed over. Luckily I didn't see any eyes shining back at me. I didn't really get to bed until midnight.Tonight it's quiet and it's my first time sleeping with no one nearby.