3.5 miles into town. That was the only thing between us and the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. We’ve been looking forward to this since Erwin, nearly 300 miles back. Each town we come to, we’ve hoped for a buffet. This is the first one with good reviews and is accessible to us.
First we resupplied at the Food Lion. Six days worth of food. It seems like our resupplies keep getting bigger and bigger. Not because we are buying for more days, but because we are deciding to carry more food per day. Basically, we are letting our hiker stomachs do the shopping. It’s so much food, we have to use a second dry bag, which means Warthog has to grab rope to hang this one, since our other bag doesn’t require hanging.
After the grocery store we finally got our buffet. Lucky us, it was a Tuesday special too! Just $5.66 to eat. As we were at the table, an older gentleman asked if he could join us. His trailname is Tagalee. He’s not a current thru-hiker. I’m not sure he’s hiked a long trail. However, he camps and backpacks regularly. He was down next to Warthog and said when he goes out, his pack is under ten pounds. Much of his gear is homemade. I should add, just after college, Tagalee worked as an engineer for the NASA Apollo project. Afterwards, he owned one of the biggest blacksmithing shops on the east coast. He was in his 80’s and was an absolute joy to meet. Tagalee lives in Vermont, but is on his way to visit grandkids in Ohio and Wisconsin. I asked if he was on FaceBook since I wanted to share the portrait I took of him. His answer was that he laughed, well… more like he scoffed. No FaceBook for Tagalee then. He said his kids tried to get him on there. They argued, “Then you can watch your grandkids grow.” His answer… “I’ll drive out and see them grow in real life.” I love it.
After lunch, Warthog ran to the post office to mail back some items, including the pack I won. In addition to our own two packs, we had carried that thing for the last few days and I was happy to see it sent home. It’ll get put to good use, just on a future trip.
Others needed to go the the post office as well. Atlas and Kirby both had packages coming. Kirby’s was from his brother. Atlas got new shoes. His seams were blown. When he took the sparkly new ones out, he held them up to compare the wear that the last several hundred miles had worn on his old pair. The difference was impressive to say the least!
While we were getting wrapped up and ready to go, we saw Tagalee again. We spent a lot of time talking to him and when it was time to head back to the trail, he was kind enough to give us a ride in his ’86 Lincoln Towncar – one of four cars he owns. The Lincoln is his “distance” car. He has one for local driving, show, and fun as well. He took a photo of us all when he dropped us off and yelled out, “I’m jealous!” as we started hiking up the trail. I turned around to wave, he was watching like a proud grandfather would. It warmed my heart and then immediately made me miss my own grandpa back home.
We knew rain was coming. It’ll be here all week. However, knowing that didn’t make it any easier when it finally started. We climbed almost eight miles after town to get to the shelter for the night. By the time we arrived, most everything was soaked: our clothes, our packs, our rain gear. To keep things as dry as possible, the group held the rainfly for each tent while the others set up the tent under it. It was a show of kindness that went above and beyond, especially since the weather was cold and miserable. As soon as we were all set up, I took to trying to situate the inside of the tent in a way that would keep everything dry. The floor is already pretty wet. I said I have a 20″x72″ island, the size of my sleeping pad. Everything else is subject to wetness.
We made dinner in our vestibule, cornbread stuffing and bacon bits. It’s so miserable out, I haven’t gone to the bathroom since our hike into camp. That, mixed with the rain droplets that seem to be finding their way into our tent, guarantee and uncomfortable evening.
-ansel