The weather was clear when we started, and then immediately became not clear. Fog came in first, drenching us simply with its touch. We put on our rain gear not a moment too soon because then the rain fell. It was a constant soaking, and my rain jacket is not the most waterproof thing in the world. Luckily, Maggie was well prepared for the rainy portion of the trip, so she stayed pleasant and dry. While walking slowly through the dense fog a yelping came up from the valley below. It most definitely was a hunter’s dog, but we paid it no mind. We trudged along in our sorry state. Then two dogs appeared. The circled around us, running up the hill and back down, hoping to find the scent of a deer. One of the dogs quickly became bored with our meager speed and disappeared back to his owners. But the other dog was a true hunting hound, ready to stick out the bad weather with his two new companions. We will call him Buck. Buck kept running circles around us, making us feel like we were moving at a snails pace. I assumed Maggie’s back was sore from sleeping on the Walmart pad, because she kept bending down, stretching to pet Buck. He stayed with us for four miles and was very bad at keeping his spot in line. He didn’t stick to the trail, and would step on the backs of my shoes when he wanted me to step aside and let him run by, only to suddenly sprint up the side of the hill covered in briars. Buck was great. We had fun with him for over two hours before a man clad in blaze orange came down the trail 100 yards from the highway complaining about how far he had to walk to get him. The man’s name was Randle and said the dog belonged to his friend. When I inquired as to the dog’s name, he didn’t know. So our four legged friend remains Buck in our memories. We crossed Highway 71 and climbed up to Foran Gap Shelter for a break and a snack. The shelters on this trail are immaculate. The trail is well blazed and the people are so kind! We have truly been impressed with this OT experience. Now back from that tangent. I made us both coffee, made a quick phone call (work never stops 😑), and ate a wrap. All this was while watching a stick bug (walking stick?) slowly crawl Along the wooden porch of the shelter. It was somehow mesmerizing. When we packed up, some climbing and the impending waterless stretch awaited. We walked five miles to the start of what was a 20 mile dry stretch. Maggie took her shoes off to air out her feet and I waved a quick goodbye and went off on a run. It was a hard, intense run. When I got back, Maggie was ready to go, so I chugged some water, squeezed some more water through the filter, and then packed up and jumped right in behind her. With Maggie’s new addition of the Walmart sleeping pad, she is a bit wider than she is used to. As we enter the thorny section of briars around Blue Mountains, she continually caught the side of the large foam tube on every low hanging branch. I could feel her frustration in the air, and stifled any laughs by capturing the moment with pictures. The thorns tore up my legs, but my sleeping pad escaped the scratches and mangled chunks that hers acquired. Just past Turner Gap shelter we came to a road with a few gallons of water left out for hikers. This was amazing, simply because it afforded us enough water to cook a real meal in the evening. We had a snack and then a man in sandals and a sport quilt came jogging down the trail. He though we were his friends. But even though we weren’t, he chatted with us for a while. Tex Willis was retired infantry in the army, and you won’t meet a kinder gentleman. He was hoping to see his friends because he needed an iPhone cord, so I gave him the one I had. I know the anxiety of not keeping the device that houses maps and communication, and we had an extra cord between us. Tex also had an amazing shirt of the Ouachita Trail, and that must be next to complete Maggie and my matching outfits for dates to the Costco food court. From the cache we hiked 2 more miles, looking for a spot that had been “reclaimed by nature,” according to Guthook Map comments. Once again (like last night) we stumbled around through the thick leaves looking for any sign of the site. The fire ring was almost completely overgrown, but we finally found our spot. Now after finding our spot to camp these days, we have to carefully survey the ground and pick up any rocks and twigs so Maggie can survive the night on her thin pad. We both got down on our hands and knees combing the ground for any disturbance in her important rest. The hit a rock with her hand and was on the verge of moving the tent, but I taught her a trick I had learned on my FKTs when sleeping with less than the optimal padding: we grabbed handfuls of leaves and pine needles and circled the rock, leveling off the area and adding some nice cushion. Now we can both sleep in peace.
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