June 25
End: Dalton House
Miles: 9.6
Total: 4150.9
I woke up on my comfy couch to the sounds of the MacDonalds getting ready for breakfast. I got up and joined them, and soon enough I got packed up and they drove me back out to the Walmart so that I could continue the trail where I had left off.
I walked out of town on the road, and found the road I was looking for after awhile. There was no blaze, but I took the turn anyway. From there I soon found the ATV trail I was searching for, and took another blazeless turn.
I wasn’t entirely sure if I was on the trail, but I knew where I was going in any case, so I marched on. The trail went through some swamps which harbored the hated mosquitoes. I used liberal bug spray and my headnet, and that worked pretty well, just as it had at the beginning of the IAT.
I had no idea at what pace I was going exactly, but I tried to be quick in order to meet up with the Daltons for lunch. I listened to music to help the time pass, and before I knew it I was at the junkyard in Monticello. I had made great time. I found Eric and Julie, and hung out there until lunch, when we picked up some sandwiches from the local store.
Thunderstorms moved in, and Eric immediately invited me to have dinner with his family, which I happily agreed to. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Eric at the yard, and taking a trip with him over to a site he was working on a contract.
We met up with Julie and the rest of the Dalton family at a diner and had some great food. The Daltons were extremely gracious, and I was glad to have met them in such a remote part of the country. We all went back to their house and watched a movie, then went to bed. I set up my sleeping mat on the floor, which was just fine. I was out of the rain.
