Date: 2018-06-06
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I had a wonderful rest last night at the motel 8. Two Crows slept like a dead person next to me. We woke up around 8:45 am and headed downstairs for breakfast. Two Crows had gotten up earlier to get an early start. He was determined to catch Last Spot who was 150 miles ahead.  I ate waffles, yogurt, fruit, and cereal for breakfast. I said goodbye to Two Crows since I didn't know the next time I'd see him again. I went up to the room got my pack ready and headed over to Kroger to resupply. I bought 4 days of food. I'm going to try bagels with black forest ham, cheese, and avocado this time. The black forest ham was from the presliced section. It had an expiration date of July 27th and I figured it had enough preservatives to last awhile. After Kroger I made the trek to the post office to send my old chacos back. I didn't want to carry them since they weighed almost 4 pounds. It was difficult getting there since the main road was basically a highway. Semi trucks zoomed by at full speed and I could feel the air pressure increase as they passed. It was nerve wrecking and I made sure to pay attention to any distracted drivers. The employee at the post office was really friendly and helped me with finding the right box for my shoes. In the smaller towns it seems that the postal workers are less stressed than in the big cities like Austin. Kazi and Scissors messaged me saying they were getting back on the trail and only hiking 12 miles to the second shelter. It would be an easier day out of town.  I got back on the trail at 1 pm. The sun was hot but I figured I'd be climbing up into the mountains again with cooler temps. The initial trail out of Daleville seemed like a well kept park. The grass was mowed and there were places to picnic. It was pretty loud since the trail was by several highways in the area. The trail crossed the road to Troutdale and the highway noise subsided after that. The first shelter I arrived at had a rain water collector for potable water. Surprisingly it was empty even with all the rain. Hikers in the shelter thought that the valve was left open and the water leaked out. I pushed on another 5 miles to the next water source. At the stream I found a battery pack with a solar charger.  I picked it up and brought it with me to the next shelter. The water source was .3 miles from the next shelter and didn't want to do that hike. There was a stream about .5 from the shelter and I decided to carry 3 liters to the shelter so I didn't have to do the extra .6 to get water. I have started making my decisions around not doing extra miles on the trail if I don't have to. Kazi decided not to go to the shelter and just camp near the water source. It was a better idea since she didn't have to carry 3 liters of water. She had changed out her shoes to Hokas. At first they were giving her intense Achilles heel pain, but it subsided after 2 hours. They had seemed to be working out for her. I pushed onto the shelter.  When I arrived, Scissors was making dinner on the picnic table. There was also a small girl scout troop there. They originally had 4 girls but 3 dropped out. One got dehydrated, another broke her foot before the trip started, the friend of the girl with a broken foot was a duo and didn't feel like going. Stealth and Rebel Yell were also at the campsite. Another hiker named Charles was there. He hadn't gotten a trail name yet. We were all hanging out at the picnic table when Charles rolled and lit up a huge joint in front of the girl scouts. Charles really didn't realized what he was doing until after the fact. Scissors wanted to give him the trail name Girl Scout. He didn't accept it but we're going to write the story in the trail journals until other hikers start calling him that name. Hiker midnight came and we all headed for our tents.  Tonight the air is chilling, I hope it doesn't get too cold for my sleeping bag.