Day 22

Today was a ROUGH day. I woke up realizing my pad slid down in my tent and pushed the side of the tent so water from the pouring rain was coming in. I had a puddle of water in the corner of my tent. It took a while to wipe that up and ring it out. Everything is wet. It poured well after 9am when I had enough waiting and had to start packing up. Luckily, it stopped to a sprinkle by the time I was ready to break down the tent. The entire tent was wet and muddy and there’s just no real way to pack it up without getting all that into the tent itself. I just had to suck it up and deal with it. The footprint was coated in mud as well. All my sleep stuff was damp also. I just packed everything up and got going. Too cold and wet to do breakfast. I wanted to hike to warm up. The best way to describe today is MUD! There was SO much water and mud on trail that there was no way to get around it. Only one thing to do; just walk right thru it. My shoes were covered with mud and water had soaked all the way thru my shoes and both pairs of socks. At least my body heat was making it warm water. By 2pm, the sun decided to come out. I didn’t get to my next campsite some 11+ miles away until after 4pm mostly because I had to stop on a mountain top to make some phone calls. My brand new backpack broke. Well, the load handle on top tore off. That shouldn’t happen with just 30 lbs. ULA customer support was great though. They are mailing me a new pack to Fontana Post Office and hopefully it is there in 4 days when I should be there. I am hoping to stay at the Fontana Village resort there for at least one night while I prepare for the Smoky Mountains anyway. I have to pay for my permit and print it out before I enter. I think there’s a chance of rain again tonight. Maybe that will wash the mud off or just make it worse. We’ll see. As long as it stops for me to pack up. I have a short day tomorrow as I hike down to the NOC. I hope I can find a room to stay. I prefer private rooms over staying in a bunk. Anywho… I’m 131 miles in on the AT. I’m proud of myself. A lot of people bailed today to go to town to dry out. I’m happy that I pushed on to dry off at the next camp spot. If I bail to town every time I get wet, I’ll never make it to Maine. Now I just need to head to a creek to wash off these nasty, dirty, water logged feet. ?