May 15
End: Murray Cabin
Miles: 7.0
Total: 3199.7
We woke up in the hotel and it was pouring down rain outside. There was no way that we were going straight out to the trail in the monsoon, so we headed down the hall to grab some breakfast. We must have eaten about ten waffles among the four of us.
A little slow to get our stuff packed, we just threw everything into the car when checkout time rolled around. Spiral needed to visit an outdoor store, so I located a Gander Mountain in Middleton and we drove over there.
It was an interesting store. I admired a solar shower and a few big air mattresses, wishing that hikers could afford to carry such luxuries. Spiral found his Superfeet insoles and we left, heading across the street to Panera. I enjoyed a little taste of prepared food off the trail, and the rain slowed down and basically stopped.
We headed back to the trail, wondering if we were going to get hit by more rain, or if we had really dodged the misery of hiking with soaking wet feet. We dropped off Spiral and Swivel first, and I said goodbye to them for what I figured was the last time. Driving back to my last departure from the trail, I took some time to organize my gear and to replace my socks for basically the first time during the whole trek.
Finally I left my mother behind and walked off into the wet woods and tall grass. After some time I met Patches, whose signature I had seen many times in true trail logs. She was planning on staying at the Murray cabin just as I was, so we hiked the last mile or two together, and arrived on the Murray property before dark.
The cabin was great. It had electricity, outlets, and a water pump outside, as well as a privy. We checked out the other buildings, then cooked dinner and went to bed. I enjoyed talking to Patches and just seeing another thru-hiker.
