I woke in my tent next to the rushing creek surprised to find I had the best sleep I’ve had in my tent since my hike began. I was concerned that the tent sites next to this shelter were way too close to the rushing creek and that, along with rain, would cause really bad condensation and everything, including me and my down quilt, would be wet. Only the roof of my tent facing the water had a layer of condensation on it. The other side, above my head, was actually dry. The white noise of the rushing creek was soothing and must have helped me sleep well. It actually turned out to be an amazing day! It first started with a 2,300+ ft climb but most of it was well graded. The sun was shining and I had fun taking pictures of water droplets on leaves. After that, I bumped into Zipper, who I keep seeing from time to time, and then we hiked on enjoying amazing views and then some trail magic from people who came out hoping to see Zipper since they knew him. I was happy to enjoy the chocolate muffins, bananas, tangerines and Powerade. (Thank you Dinner Bell and Chitchat!) I finally arrived to the shelter I wanted to stay er for the night with the plan to hike 2.3 miles to the road that will take me 2 miles off trail to a campground and general store where I can resupply, recharge and get either stay there stuffing my face with fresh cooked meals but have to pay $17 for a camp spot or go back out to the trail where I can camp freely. I think it depends on how long it takes to charge up my battery banks to get me to Waynesboro by the 19th. I have a reservation at Stanimals hostel where I had a new pair of shoes (pair #3) and a smaller hip belt shipped to. Oh, so while trying to type this, the sky opened up. A massive storm hit! Rain was falling so hard, I was struggling with splash back on one side of the tent and had to prop up my backpack and hold up my rain jacket just to keep inside as dry as possible. It was bad! One of the worst rains I’ve dealt with yet. I still need to figure out the best way to pitch this tent to prevent that splash back. Either I pitch it lower so the doors are closer to the ground, but that means the bathtub floor is lower too, or try to pitch higher so the bathtub floor is higher up to catch the splash back but I’d think that would really shrink the space I have inside and the doors would be higher. I dunno. Going to take practice but considering I’ve stayed in my tent 51 of the days out here so far, I should have it figured out soon.