AT day 76 – A very random day
July 23rd 2018
Silver Hill Campsite – Falls Village (mile 1493.5)
14.9 miles
Total miles: 1514.1
The 24 crew got up really early and headed out. They still had 6.4 miles to do before 8:45am, and they had varying amounts of beers to drink. I heard them go and then went in and out of sleep until I got up at around 6am.
It rained in the night and I had a whole host of bugs hanging out on my tent. Spiders, slugs, daddy long legs...it was drizzling when I packed up and I left as quick as I could.
It was 6.8 miles to the shelter where the others would be waiting. It was a tough 6.8 miles. It rained on and off for most of it. There were a series of steep up and downhills and wet slippery rock to contend with. The umbrella was keeping me reasonably dry but the drizzle rain just makes everything wet anyway. Plus it was disgustingly humid. By the last couple of miles it was pouring down. The trail was a puddle. There was a narrow rock to climb up through and I had to take down my umbrella for that. There was no way to get through with it. I managed to get through staying reasonably dry. Jukebox caught up to me and I was able to pick up the pace to try and keep up with her so I would get there quicker.
Before the torrential rain I was being chased by horse flies. I first of all thought there was something hanging off the back of my pack and tickling my legs, but it turned out to be this very persistent horse fly. I had to stop and wait for it to land and smack it one because it just wouldn’t leave me alone. It happened twice more.
After what felt like the longest 7 miles ever we made it to the shelter where Professor and Peaches were huddled sleeping off their hangovers. Poor Shred made the miles but still had 6 beers left that he was working through!
We took shelter in the shelter as the rain came and went. More people arrived, some of the crows who were at the campsite last night and some new people. One girl was particularly loud and her voice cut over everyone else. What’s your name? Puff Puff. Huff Puff? No Puff Puff. Oh, like Puff Puff pass, haha.
Ugh.
There were about 14 people in the shelter and the volume was just overwhelming. I needed to leave so I packed up and hiked on, 8 miles to the town of Falls Village. The second half of the day was thankfully a lot easier than the first and it stopped raining, and the last few miles were flat. The trail crosses the road and follows the cover for a while, before crossing over a bridge and going down past a high school.
We were struggling with finding somewhere to stay. Then Jukebox got onto couchsurfing and found somewhere for all 6 of us to stay which was a real achievement. I was walking down the road and saw a group of people walking back towards me. They had found a cafe as the one in town is closed on a Monday and the cafe they found was just a short bushwhack over the railway line.
We went there and had burgers and sodas. It was on ok burger but the place was super disorganised. They had not clue what they were doing! It was freezing in there and we were all wet. Peaches was dripping!
We then walked down the road into Falls Village where our host Lisa picked us up. She took us back to her house and she is, in a nice way, totally mad. We went to resupply. It was an agonising task as it always is. I had to get some better food this time so I got the usual stuff but I also added tuna, peanut butter and cheese. I was so hungry today I had to do something about my food.
Back at the house Jukebox cooked a huge spaghetti dinner which was so good. I ate so much my belly hurt. We listened to Lisa’s crazy stories and we took showers. I have red blotches all over my arms. Some are bug bites but I think some of it is just chafe from wearing my long sleeve top. I combed my hair for the first time in 48 days. It took an age to get through.
We stay up too late and I get stressed about my phone because the battery percentage won’t go above 83%. I do have a little panic that my phone is broken
Had I been on my own I wouldn't have stayed anywhere in town tonight, but I was getting a bit down about the chafe on my armpit and my wet clothes and the hunger so I’m glad I did.