June 4

Woke up this morning at 0500. And then proceeded to lie there. I stayed in my tent until after 0800. Yep. That lazy. I just kept marveling at how my feet and legs weren't in pain, and so dreaded those first shuffling, careful steps of the morning. So comfortable. So warm. The outside of my tent was drenched, but aside from some minor condensation the inside was dry. One shoe was wet. I'd left it upside down, and enough water had leaked under the vestibule to soak it. Oh well. 

The temperature was pretty good, and while it was still humid, nothing to compare with yesterday. Lot of rocks, but also some nice sections. Bugs weren't quite as bad, either. I only slapped myself in the face a few times today. Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I lost my sunglasses yesterday. Fourth pair. Happened sometime towards the evening after a particularly violent insect swatting gyration. No idea where they went. 

Due to my exceptionally late start, a lot of people caught up with me at lunch. Chef, Scorch, Stakes, and Cliffwalker, along with some section hikers. I pushed on to 501 shelter, a really nice enclosed shelter right off of highway 501. There is a shower, individual bunks, and they deliver pizza there. All shelters should aspire to this greatness. There were two guys present when I got there, a section hiker named Walrus from Fayetteville, NC, and some other guy who appeared to just like hanging out there. I assume he was some sort of local. He asked me where I'd started this morning, and when I told him he replied, "Oh, that's not very far." He then asked where I was from, and proceeded to say, "Hooooowww Y'aaaaalll doooooin' doooowwn theah?" in what I suppose he believed was a Kentucky accent. He then asked me if that sounded familiar. I said no. Then I said "Is there something wrong with your brain?" He laughed it off but left me alone.  

When Scorch showed up, we agreed to split a pizza. Sadly no feta, so we got an onion and pepperoni instead. It was great, but about 5 minutes after finishing it a couple people came in and said they were doing trail magic. A church group made a bunch of cheeseburgers and hotdogs, with strawberries and watermelon and Barq's root beer, among other delights. During all this eating, everyone I'd seen today plus Fiver (who had my sunglasses! I gave her the pair I found in the 501 hiker box) caught up, but they were all planning on staying at 501 that night. I wanted to make a few more miles, so I headed out. I'm now camped at a nice campsite somewhere in the woods. In the rain again. Not sure where I am, but I guess maybe 15 miles today. Ish. Port Clinton tomorrow night. 

Fastest turtle alive. Still pretty slow. 

Pair #5. Ready for The Hangover 4. These are the ones I gave to Fiver when she returned mine.