Everything under my hammock Is covered with a little bits of grit and little pieces of bark. The rain must have really come down at some point to create this amount of splash. Live and learn, I suppose.
Quickly, I realize trying to clean up this mess in the dark and while it's raining is going to be futile. Normally, I would pack under my tarp, but because of the mess I decide to pack on the corner of the shelter apron. I transfer all of my belongings from under my tarp to a small section of the shelter porch that is protected by the overhang of the roof.
No one is stirring inside the shelter, and I certainly would not want the light of my headlamp to wake anyone, so I mind the direction of my headlamp while I gather my belongings. Between trying to keep my belongings dry from the rain, and trying to pack in the dark without being able to see, the process of packing takes me significantly longer than usual.
I finish packing and as I leave the shelter area people are starting to stir and get up to use the facilities. The minute I return to the white blazes of the Appalachian Trail, the rain stops, but I don't stop to take off my rain gear because I'm much warmer with it on. I am eager to get going because Boiling Springs is a short four miles down the trail. I am meeting Kelly there this morning at a cafe, where I will also grab some breakfast.
I make good time as I descend to a pasture about an hour after leaving the shelter. The remaining two miles into town takes me across beautiful rolling fields of wheat. I pass mulberry trees surrounding the field but none of the berries are ripe enough to pick. However I do grab handfuls of lambs quarters (Chenapodium album) and nibble on those as I walk.
Just before I reach the railroad crossing into Boiling Springs, the arms of the railroad crossing descend and a train whizzes by. The clanging of the train and the dinging of the road crossing bells is deafening. I hope this isn't a very long train, as I am getting quite hungry. Thankfully the train is gone and I am on my way into Boiling Springs five minutes later.
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| Chenopodium album |
Boiling Springs is not a very big town, but it is really cute. I walk past the municipal pool and cross the Yellow Breaches River. This is a fabulous trout fishing spot and my husband spent time here fly fishing on one of our trips up to the area. Despite the early hour, there are anglers surrounding the lake. Today is Saturday, and I pass by some boys catching a fish with their dad.
I continue the short walk into town and instead of taking a right on main road to follow the AT, I turn left to the cafe, just one block from the trail. I take off my pack and leave it outside the door. Kelly is not here yet, so I take a seat and order a cappuccino.
I call Kelly and she tells me she is finishing up at the bed and breakfast where she stayed last night. She already ate, so I order an omelette with toast and home fries. While I wait, I plug in my electronics to charge at the outlet under my table.
The breakfast arrives a short time later and I enjoy every single bite. The cappuccino is in a cup the size of a bowl. I pay my tab and return to the parking lot next to the trail where I'm meeting Kelly. She arrives minutes after I get there, and we hug and I tell her to take her time getting her pack together. We have all day and the weather is turning out to be really nice now that the rain has stopped.
Kelly and I met when GG and I hiked through Tennessee in 2021. The three of us ended up hiking together for another two weeks, until GG and I got to Smoky Mountain National Park. We stayed in touch and always planned to hike on the AT together again. I am sad that GG couldn't be here to do this with us, but she has some ultras coming up.
By nine o'clock Kelly and I are on our way. The trail is going to be extremely easy today. We are going to be crossing a lot of fields and roads with very mild elevation changes, but it will be a long day, nonetheless.
We catch up on our lives as we hike, enjoying some of the best trail conditions since starting the AT 1,100 miles ago. We do walk through some fields, but most of the time the trail takes us between the fields, through narrow swaths of trees. The elevation changes are minimal, but we're not walking entirely flat, either.
We scare up a few deer in a field, and we stop to gather some mulberries that aren't quite ripe, but delicious nonetheless. We cross over highways and an interstate on bridges And overpasses.
The trail traverses a bridge over a river that is flooded, with the water splashing high over the bank into the trees. Huge tulip poplars recently torn from upriver are lodged against the bridge, perpendicular to the river, the branches above the torrent still sporting leaves. The trail veers off the road and goes under the bridge. We both really hope that we're going to be able to continue on the trail to our destination.
Thankfully, although the water is very high, it does not reach up to the trail. We wind along the riverbank and cross over waterlogged marshy areas via a network of bridges.
Today the trail is delightful and the hiking mostly uneventful until I slip on a slick spot on the edge of the trail, causing me to slide straight onto my butt. I am uninjured, but now mud covers the right side of my body. The clouds overhead are getting very dark and it rains briefly. We pull out our umbrellas but don't bother to put on our rain gear, hoping it will pass quickly, and it does.
Eventually the trail leaves the field and starts ascending the ridge. We are back in the woods, and after ascending about 600 feet we get small glimpses of the valley that took us all day to cross. Eventually the trees open up and we get an amazing view of the entire valley below. I can't believe we walked all that way from the ridge far in the distance. I can see cars on the interstate that we passed hours ago.
We enjoy the view briefly before continuing the ascent up the ridge. We cross a stream and we stop to collect water, as this is the last reliable water source before we make it to the shelter. A short of time later we cross the ridge and we descend a short way to the Darlington Shelter. Thankfully the shelter is close to the trail and we don't have far to walk.
The Darlington Shelter is really nice. It sits on the very top of the ridge and is quite new. A woman is inside the shelter and we say hello to her as we pass on our way to the camping area. There is a very limited chance of rain in the forecast for the remainder of the night, so Kelly and I decided to camp out.
We set up our camps rather quickly and I'm surprised to see that it's almost 5 PM! We sit at the picnic table in front of the shelter and two young adults join us for dinner. They are a brother and sister who are hiking the trail together. His name is Thunder Lizard and hers is Whisper. The are very amiable and we chat for a while before saying goodnight.
Today's Stats: 18.8 miles, 2,720 feet gain, 3,051 feet loss
Trail Stats: 1,138 miles, 242K feet gain, 247K feet loss
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