AT Section 2 Day 8

Thur Apr 16 Jenkins Shelter to Helvey's Mill Shelter 17 miles

What an awesome day! I got out hiking at about 8am to a perfect sun rising over the ridge. You have to realize I haven't seen the sun since Easter. I got up on the ridge in a couple miles and had the rest of the 12mi with an amazing view down into the valley. It was really cool to see the transition from the steep sides coming to a point to the wavey green ocean with barns floating in. At a nice pile of logs I took a nice break looking at the ant sized tractors below. I continued booking it on over to the highway so that I'd have plenty of time in Bland. I got to the highway and started down the 2.5mi of pavement all the way down the mountain. I didn't try hitching too hard and there wasn't much traffic anyways. That pavement really hurts you feet though. I got to the post office and was delighted to find my package. I cried a little inside when the mail-lady grunted as she lifted by box. The I cried some more when I tried to fit it into my pack. This maildrop is a lot bigger for some reason, I guess I was planning on 8 or 9 days back when I split the up. As I'm trying to arrange my pack, a lady in a $5 Footlong shirt walked into the post office. I took this as a sign from God and got a ride back to work. How I ate two footlong Subways I still don't know. I was there a long while planning out this week, charging my phone, and making plans for May trips though. I left there and started the walk back to the trail. Once I got to where the highways split, I stood with my pack on and my thumb out. Within a minute I climbed into an old chevy pickup and was a few thousand feet higher in no time. I hopped out and sat at a vista looking out over a long winding valley with the interstate at the bottom.

At this point I realized I didn't have my hat. Now I was strapping clothes all over the place to be able to fit my food in my pack so I was sure it had to be somewhere. I tood everything out and checked every pocket, no where to be found. I was crushed. I walked along trying to figure out how the heck the trail crossed the interstate when I ran into the father and son that stayed with me last night (I'm not even going to start on the 3 pro snorers that kept us awake all night). Their ride was stuck in traffic so they were headed down to Bland. I asked them to go find my hat while they were the when the bow pulled it out of his pocket. I was ecstatic. I thanked him and gave him his choice of any of the snacks I had. He got the rice crispy treat, but I wish I could have done more. Evidently it fell out of my pocket at those pile of logs I was talking about before. They were killing time for their ride and I wasn't in any particular hurry so we stood there for about an hour talking. Come to find out, they live in Rochester Hills, Michigan, which if I'm not mistaken, is where my dad went to high school. Their poor dog could barely walk after their 60mi trek. I got on up to the next shelter, had a big pot of pasta and spaghetti sause. This is the first night I've been able to see the stars and they are amazing. Oh, and I have the shelter all to myself! I can't decide if I want to do an easy or hard day tomorrow. I guess it'll depend on how well I sleep. Night everyone. Thanks Humpty-dumpty and Salt!