May 22
I'll start off with the best thing that happened today. Muffin Man caught up with us! We haven't seen him since 4/20 in Hot Springs. That was over a month ago! He looks great! It's so weird seeing people after a few weeks of separation. The guys have normally dropped a significant amount of weight and they have beards. Sometimes it's hard to recognize people, especially if they have new clothes on. You get so used to seeing people in the same stuff day in and day out. His shoes are totally busted. They blew out about 30 miles after he got them but he didn't bother sending them back again (he had already sent them back once). He says it's probably because they are only 1/2 size bigger than he needs instead of a full size bigger. Ha! I need to take a photo. I think the only thing holding those shoes together at the laces.
Early in the day we passed Keffer Oak. It's 300 years old! That's older than the U.S. It's strange to think about all that tree has lived through.
The large "flat" portion of the day may have been flat, but it wasn't easy! It was a very slanted rocky ridgeline walk mixed with a few thorns for good measure. Bahhh! The views were good though. We could see green, tree-covered mountains for miles and there were no signs of civilization. The end of the "flat" portion was marked by the Eastern Continental Divide, which was not marked in the AWOL guide. Seems like a strange thing to omit.
It was hot today, so we took many breaks and moved slowly. We saw a toad, lizard, garter, and rat snake. We decided to stop short of Pickle Branch Shelter and campe by a gravel road because we were tired and it was a good water source. I saw my first tick (a dog tick, not the kind that transmits Lyme) crawling on Bluebird's trash bag. Eww! We resupply tomorrow (Friday), then overnight in town on Sunday. Can't wait!
Best Thing: Reuniting with The Muffin Man!
Looking Forward To: The Dragon's Tooth and town food!
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