Date: 2015-04-14
From: Helveys Mill Shelter

To: Wapiti Shelter
Miles today: 24.2
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up early. Had a breakfast of instant oats, poptarts and tea. Left camp about 7.15, and passed Chef on the privy. The rain started as I left the shelter and continued for most of the day. Mostly it was drizzly rain, but it was very inconsistent all day. I got soaked. I wore my coat but left my shorts uncovered because it was just too warm. My feet also got completely drenched, and the trail runners demonstrated that they are not water proof at all. I think I may need to invest in waterproof socks, otherwise I could well get trench foot from the long wet days like this. At the moment, I have my damp clothes inside my sleeping bag to try and dry them. Putting on my wet shoes and coat tomorrow will be deeply unpleasant. The main aim for everyone today was   to get to Trent's grocery, so we were all moving fast. Of course, everyone else was faster than me, but I got there in the end. I'm managed to do nearly 10 miles before 11, and got to Trent's before 2pm. Trent's is about 0.5miles west of the trail, and I immediately got a hitch - once I remembered which side of the road I needed to be on. An older man with two dogs picked me up and chatted with me for about a minute before we got to Trent's. Travelling in a car is so fast and disorienting now. Trent's grocery is a petrol station. It sells mostly bait, beer, and farming supplies. The food resupply was extremely poor. The majority of us will be eating Little Debbie snacks. My resupply consists of poptarts, Little Debbie Swiss rolls, a Baby Ruth and a honey bun. The Swiss rolls are the only thing I have for lunch and snacks for the next 2 days. Trent's also sold hot food and drink though, so I got a hot dog and an extremely weak hot chocolate. The others had burgers and cups of cereal. I left them early to get back onto the trail and make up the rest of the miles. The weather dried up for a little while, but then poured again. The trail was actually pretty nice and gentle, but the rain turned a lot of the trail into a stream or thick mud. There were also a lot of streams and rivers, with loads of little slippery bridge crossings. I've skipped ahead in the guidebook, and it looks like we will be returning to real mountain hiking again in a couple days. I am not looking forward to that.I finally got to the shelter about 5.15pm. Very reasonable speed considering my stopover in Trent's. Lorax and Archangel were already here- they were at the shelter last night too. Archangel had to pull off a toenail. I really hope that doesn't happen to me. About 30 minutes later, the rest of the troops walked in. The Rhode Island Express chose to camp a few miles back, so we are a smaller group than usual. But all of us are going to be meeting at the hostel again tomorrow. I've got some new blisters now, and my feet have been basically shredded by the rain and wet skin. My right little toe is alarming- the blister and callous have partially torn away from my skin. I think this is mostly been caused by the rain. I hope that my feet will be okay once they've dried up. We passed more than 600 miles today. We are doing big miles these days and they're just flying by. It seems like just a couple days ago I was writing about passing 500 miles. It's still absolutely incredible. I wonder if I will ever stop being awed by the mileage.Apparently 2 people were murdered in this shelter. It's raining outside, pretty fiercely too, so I'm glad to be inside here despite the creepy history. There are also plenty of hikers around so I don't feel uncomfortable. I would definitely be more worried about the mice than murderers.Tomorrow, I'm reserved in a private room at the Woods hole hostel. For a couple hundred miles, other southbound hikers have been recommending this particular hostel as being especially excellent. I can't wait to get washed and sleep comfortably. I am so sick of being filthy and of everything I own being filthy. I am also very tired these days, so a stopover in a real bed will do me good.