July 9 Mile 1209 - What I thought was going to be an easy 9-mile day turned out to be anything but. The rain continued throughout the night leaving the morning and all of our things a soggy mess. Nothing is worst than putting on wet shoes. A couple days ago I tightened my left boot to keep a blister at bay. Yesterday my inside ankle bone was bruised so I loosened the laces. This morning it was killing me. I hobbled 5 miles stopping often to make adjustments. I even shoved our dish sponge in the side for extra padding but nothing helped. The end result was me taking off my left boot and hiking the last part in a Croc camp shoe. My ankle is purple now, but feels fine without the boot. Looks like our day off was perfect timing.
The trail put us on a road 2 miles from town. Assuming we could hitchhike, we didn't call for a shuttle. We must have looked pretty bad because no one stopped. That made our 9 mile day 11 with 2 miles on the hot asphalt. Shadow said he could feel his beard move in the breeze of the passing cars. For those of you wondering, yes, his beard is that long.
The passed few days we have been hiking with a guy named 4Beard. He's from South Georgia. You can tell by his accent and the fact that he eats peanuts in his Coke. He sleeps late and arrives to camp late wearing only his underwear because of the heat. Last week he took 5 days off in Duncannon waiting for a pair of shoes in the mail. He set up camp behind a strip club for free without asking. The owner came out to mow the lawn and just mowed around his tent without saying a word. He is definitely our kind of person.
The trail is long and hard, but we continue North Bound like a moth to a flame. 75 mile to the New Jersey border!
Country Mouse and Shadow still NOBO (North Bound)
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