We are Family

June 13th Mile 976- Another nice day. The cold front came through and swept the bugs and the humidity away. Yesterday the 3 of us felt like we were hiking in syrup, but today we were back on our game. 3 miles into our hiking we found sweet tea in a container of trail magic in Front Royal, VA.

Surprisingly we are in early berry season. Today we ate some blackberries and mulberries. Last night I forgot to purify our drinking water so if we get the scoots in a couple days we won't know if it was the water or the berries.

Our lunch stop was at the best shelter we had seen so far. It had a front porch with adirondack chairs and a covered picnic table to eat. As we wrapped up lunch, we heard some other hikers come in. One said "Oh No!"  I turned to see Snowy River, Coaster, and Warbler! We hadn't seen them since our big night in Gatlinburg. Had a great time catching up then headed out for the next shelter. What we thought was going to be an easy 15 miles turned into 18 when we couldn't find a place flat to sleep. Two shelters later we were back with Coaster, Warbler, and Snowy River for the night plus Muldoon, who made a late appearance.

I don't want to jinx myself, but today was my first day in I don't know how long that I had NO first aid on my heals and made no new blisters. Maybe the 12 layers of skin that came off 600 miles ago is finally growing back.

Country Mouse and Shadow still NOBO (North Bound)