Day 8: The suck

There is no shelter in the 14.3 miles of fields, highways and mountain between Boiling Springs and the Darlington shelter, so it's one of those hikes that you just have to get done.

It didn't help that it rained all day. All day. Or that I started the day out putting my clothes, head to toe, through their second and third tours without laundry.

I reached the shelter after a harrowing, nearly vertical climb, at about 6 or 7 p.m. to find Zipper, Squeegie, Half Moon and Sunbeam there. The wet packs hung on pegs on the back wall; Squeegie strung up a communal clothesline and I hung the two pairs of socks and the two pairs of sock liners I'd drenched on the day. It continued to rain outside and a fog settled.

My dinner was two packets of Thai noodles which I added pepperoni slices and banana peppers to. It was pretty good.

Soon three more hikers, Morning Glory, McBride and Leafy, arrived, and they set up their sleeping pads and sleeping bags on the floor between the two sets of bunks. It was a full house.

Everybody else knew everybody else from previous trail encounters since Georgia. After introducing myself to Leafy and McBride and telling them how the rain was my first since starting my hike the week before, McBride summed it up with, "Welcome to the suck."