So let me explain the 1181.6. When I hiked northbound (Nobo), the last number above is the mile marker on the trail. Now that I’m southbound (Sobo), my Mile markers are converted to someone who is going south from the Terminus of Mt. Katahdin. It’s complicated and causes havoc for Nobo’s and Sobo’s to coordinate meetups because our mile markers are different. Honestly, I’m a bit confused too,.

After an extremely restful night of sleep, I woke up and made myself some eggs and coffee. Towns Inn has a communal kitchen with all the fixings for making breakfast, lunch and dinner. Once I devoured my breakfast, I headed to the Post Office to pick up packages and to mail stuff out. I’m swamping out some of my cold weather clothes for warmer weather shorts and tank tops. I still have my hiking skirt, being it has served me well but needed something cooler for evening wear. I picked up my 5-day supply of food and headed back to Towns Inn. Needless to say, I picked up 2 bonus miles in the process.

Once I got back to my room, Norman was swimming from the chandelier, wondering where I had gone for much too long. He was consoled, and I resumed packing. I forgot how heavy 5 days of food is?! Once repacked, Norman was placed in his rightful spot, on my back, and we headed down the trail.

Oh my gosh, I feel like I have a box of rocks in my pack. I’m thinking it’s close to 30 pounds, with excess food and 2 -1/2 liters of water. The water report is looking pretty dismal. All the “reliable” water sources have dried up, as per comments on FarOut. When hikers pass through, they will write comments that update the data. Today, all places to find water are non-producers. So I planned accordingly.

Funny thing is the first major milestone was crossing the Shenandoah River. No, there is water in that river but I am 500’ above it on the Auto-ban with cars and trucks zipping by. No access to the River and from comments posted, they say it taste like a combination of Phoenix and Hot Sauce? Not sure but that doesn’t sound good to me. I’ll stick with my tap water from Towns Inn.

I saw my first hikers, two ladies out for a section hike. They were definitely in their 70’s with one external frame pack that was as old as the gal who was carrying it. I most likely will not see them again as they were slower than me. The trail is much different down south. The ground is rock hard, solid and not even a patch of mud! The trail is fairly flat compared to what I’ve been hiking for the past month or two. There are a few rocks but they are few and far between. I think I’ll like hiking south.

On the trail today, I saw a huge group of kids coming my way. As we met, the boy asked if I was hiking the whole AT? I told him I was and right then, I gained Superpower status! They had lots of questions. Evidentially, they are a group of Homeschoolers who hike every Tuesday on different trails, but mostly the AT. There were 20 plus kids ranging from 5-17 years old. I was quite impressed with them and their attitudes.

Being I left so late, I stopped for lunch around 1:30pm. There were three young guys, probably in their early 20’s , stopped and ready to set-up camp. One of the boys had a paperback novel with him, the size of War & Peace. He must be a fast reader! One guy was relaxing in his hammock while his other friend was scouting around for the flattest place to pitch his tent. I’m just eating lunch but stayed for a bit, watching these three plan out the rest of their day.

Based on the water report I received from the three boys, the upcoming Shelter is my only sure bet. Well that confirmed my fate for the day. The only water source for the next 10 miles and it’s a spring. That’s always good dependable drinking water and cold to boot! I ran into a few more day-hikers but no other thru-hikers. Honestly I don’t expect to see many, if any at all. Maybe a Flip/Flopper like me and Reset, but everyone else should be elsewhere.

Around 5pm, I arrived to David Lesser Memorial Shelter. It’s a beautiful structure with lots of camping sites and platforms. It has picnic tables and benches, a swinging bench and a perfectly constructed Anderondack bench. I dropped my pack, retrieve my daypack, four liters of water carrying containers and headed down to the spring. It is .25 miles down the hill. The trail is well blazed but it’s definitely all of .25, if not more. The spring was flowing and I filled up every bottle I had. 4 liters of glorious, life-saving water. I hoofed it back up the hill and started cooking. It looks like me and Norman have the place to ourselves. Oh how nice that’ll be.

The birds were squawking, the doves were cooing and I was hearing all sorts of squirrels and rodents in the trees. I saw a couple of white-tailed deer and the forest seems to be alive again. For sometime up north, the only critter I was seeing was a red-tailed squirrel. South is where the animals are. I better keep a close eye on Norman so he doesn’t get mistaken for a wild animal.

A Sobo Billy Goat just showed up. He was the 9th to checkin at Harpers Ferry. He left June 1 so this guy is flying. We will be sharing our shelter after all. That’s a good thing. There’s plenty of room and always nice to have company.

Today was a good day. Me and the Lord had some conversation about what’s to come. I really had it in my head that this was going to be easy peasy. He reminded me that nothing comes easy. There will be days that will be easier than others but it will not be a piece of cake. The fact is that everyday I’m out here, is a testimony to Jesus protecting me and reminding me of why we are here. If I’m to honor Him, then I need to be purposeful in what I am doing, saying and thinking. Thank you for your words and wisdom, and most of all, for keeping me close to your heart. I know I am loved and cared for. What else do I really need?