It was my turn to make a mistake. When we went to bed it was clear. But I startled awake at 1am sensing a change in the weather. I woke Maggie and we closed the sides of our single wall tent. In fact, we timed it perfectly and were all set for the rain that came only minutes later. We both rustled awake at 4am. The rain had stopped and we were warm all sealed inside our tent. I chose to open the doors on my side and let some cool air in. It was a big mistake. 30 minutes later the rain started again and was blowing in my side of the tent. My sleeping bag was quickly a soggy mess. At 630 we both groaned and knew the weather would not let up, so we packed and started hiking. Everything I had was now wet due to a dumb mistake. We powered through 8 wet and cold miles to Brushy Creek Mountain Shelter. I made us both a very needed cup of coffee and alerted Maggie to a surprise that was waiting for her 4 miles ahead at Big Brushy Trailhead. Her feet were sore and mangled, but she popped right up, spurred on by the thought of a surprise. Now I just hoped it would all work out. We hustled through the 4 miles, Maggie’s giant Walmart sleeping pad hitting every branch near the trail, and got to the day use area of the campground. A lady hollered at us and Maggie asked, “Do they know us?” I didn’t say anything and walked over. I had been texting a Trail angel for a couple days and she had brought out a much more functional sleeping bag for Maggie. On top of that, our trail angel had tacos and soda for us! The best trail magic ever! Maggie was on the verge of tears with her surprise and we got to talk to a great and crucial piece of the Ouachita Trail community. We had a wonderful conversation and somehow during it the rain went away for good. The rest of the day was without precipitation. After leaving our trail angel and the surprise trail magic for Maggie behind, I went ahead, trying to log some miles in front to get a run in later in the day. I huffed it to Fiddler Creek shelter, hung out my soggy gear and started running back up the hill. I met Maggie after about 1.5 miles but kept going. It was a tough but rewarding run with the sun peaking out under the clouds as it set in the sky. This trail has some especially gorgeous spots. After 30 minutes I turned around and ran back to the shelter. Inside Maggie had her shoes off and a foot full of swollen sausages sat in the pea gravel of the shelter. Her feet looked rough. I said we could stay in the shelter, but she was determined to hike 4 more miles, so we did. On this day Maggie showed her real toughness, although maybe the surprise trail magic had something to do with it too!
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