AT Section 2 Day 5

Mon Apr 13
Partnership Shelter to Chatfield Shelter
7 miles
Good things first. I got the whole loft in the shelter to myself last night so I didn't have to listen to anyone snoring. The hike wasn't strenuous at all. There was a nice view from a log bench that made for a nice break. The view today and the second half of yesterday has been much different than I'm used to. Usually the AT runs along the tops of ridges and the ups and downs come from going from mountain to mountain. The usual view is the valley below and more mountains on the otherside and peaks as far as you can see. Here, however, the mountain drops off and the valley is flat and miles wide before the next parallel ridge. The flatland is an incredibly bright green compared to the gray-brown of the mountains. I would hate to be doing this section when there's leaves on the trees because there's almost no breaks to see down into these valleys. Now for a little bad. It turned out that I don't have a blister, just a hard bump like bone that hurts every step. I don't know if it will heal today or if I just have to deal with it. I threw the SteriPen off the mountain to save weight by getting rid of useless equipment. just kidding. But it hasn't worked a single time in a couple days now. So any questionable sources like streams I've been using iodine tablets and drinking straight from good looking springs. And lastly, it's supposed to rain tonight and the next two days. Unfortunately, they took down the next shelter so now I'm forced to do 18.4 tomorrow in the rain. I'm so bored now, I wish I had just tried for 25 today. I know I wouldn't have made it though. There's a book sitting in the shelter, but the first 120pages are missing. Hopefully I can get a good night's sleep tonight and get started early. I've got some heavy bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. Can't complain too much about sitting all day next to a babbling brook.