Date: 2015-07-18
From: Appalachian Trail RR Station/Native Landscapes & C

To: Ten Mile River Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: thunderstorm

I got up early and planned to head up the trail. But then Freebird and Mado told me what happened in the middle of the night with the creepy guy. And it started to rain. So instead I had breakfast in the gazebo while the rain passed. I reminded both guys the police should have been called from the start, and I let them know I had put the owner on notice of the situation by leaving a voice mail message. They both agreed we had no idea whether the guy had any weapons or what he was capable of doing to us in our sleep. But they both thought the situation was over when the creepy guy left.The rain let up and i hit the trail. The AT crossed the road and skirted or passed through several fields. Where is my farm boy husband when I need him to identify crops?The heat and humidity were again ridiculous while water sources were scarce. Thankfully the trail was not too bad. I was carrying extra water and hoping to get in plenty of miles, but as you have already seen many times, my plans tend not to work out.First, the nursery owner and I played phone tag. Obviously he wanted to know what happened on his propety. When we finally talked, his first reaction was to ban hikers from his property. Since it was not a hiker that caused the problems I asked him to reconsider. Unfortunately the owner has recently had several problems which were caused by ill behaved and ungrateful thru hikers. As a compromise, I asked him to consider allowing hikers to get water, but discontinue the camping on his property. (I have talked with the owner again recently and he adopted my suggestion.)Then I apparently sustained several stings by yellow jackets. I suddenly felt a stabbing burning feeling in my lower left leg, and instinctively slapped several insects on my leg. The pain was intense. I applied a wipe I had for insect bites, but it did not provide much relief. I was near the Wiles Shelter, which was about a mile from a road. I decided to take a break there, apply a different medication, and determine whether I needed additional medical care.I applied Technu gel, collected some water, and made a hot meal to give the Technu a chance to work. Fortunately the stings felt better, and I enjoyed my meal. As I was getting ready to move on, I met Luigi, a brand new AT hiker. It was his very first day on the AT, and everything was new and exciting for him. It was refreshing.I still had a little pain and,swelling from the stings, but it was MUCH better. I was glad I took the cautious approach. It was still hot and humid, but I had plenty of water and the trail was not too bad. Unfortunately a storm was approaching. I crossed into CT - yea! Another state!! And headed for Ten Mile River Shelter. I planned to stay in the shelter, but quickly changed my mind. CT apparently has a problem with porcupines chewing on the shelters. So there is a gap between the front of the shelter and the platform where the hikers sleep. Supposedly the porcupines cannot jump the gap. I was not very good at jumping the gap either, and I was afraid I would forget about the gap if I got up in the middle of the night to go to the privy.There was also a bumble bee hive in one of the shelter walls, and a giant spider who considered the shelter home. I had enough bites and stings for the day. So I decided I would take my chances with the approaching thunderstorm.The Ridge Runner spent the night alone in the shelter (she had no tent). Mado, Luigi, another thru hiker, and I all tented. Everyone was snuggled in for the night before the storm hit.The AT is calling. Thankfully, although incredibly painful, the stings were not serious and I am still on the trail.