Very light sprinkles hit my face. It woke me up. There wasn’t any rain in the forecast, but the water droplets threatened a front. It didn’t last long, soon we were back to blue skies. I tried to keep Warthog in bed as late as I could… 8a. By then, he saw Kirby starting to wake up. Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman were still passed out.
I was a little slow this morning, taking time to breathe deeply, filling myself up with the scent of fresh water. It’s a smell that is entirely “summer” to me. I grew up going to the lake and as an adult still get excited whenever we are heading to our parents’ cottage or boat. I didn’t want to leave, but we had spent enough time at the beach.
Around 9:30a we hit the trail. Today was incredibly easy. In total we had about 2,500 feet of elevation gain. Most of the trail was flat and a lot was wide too. With the temperatures being in the mid 70’s, it was a gorgeous day for a hike. We took our first break at an overlook with the river below. The second break was at the shelter. Then lunch at a state park.
The miles flew by. Before we knew it, we were hitting a set of campsites in a state park that we read are free for thru-hikers only. They are built up, level tent pads and even have their own bathrooms and showers to use. All free?… It seemed too good to be true. None of us wanted to get our hopes up and arrived prepared to be disappointed. We were not. It was awesome! We all washed off the sweat of the day and climbed into our tents refreshed. But first, Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman had a sewing project. They had bought a sleeping bag from Walmart. Seeing how we set up our shared quilt, they wanted to be able to open up the toe box of their bag as well. So they cut the thing down the middle and sewed up the edges. All so their feet wouldn’t be confined anymore. I get it. I love being able to move my feet wherever my heart desires at night. The quilt we use makes us feel like we are sleeping in a real bed. Well, as close to a real bed as possible anyway.
-ansel