Long fun day today… We started off with a stop at the home of the infamous “cookie lady” just two miles down the hill from October Mountain. Actually when we arrived we met her husband Roy and their dog Rufus first. Roy and Marilyn give out free homemade cookies to all hikers stopping by their home and blueberry farm just off the trail. They also sell cold lemonade and coke. We sat out on one of their picnic tables enjoying the snack and the beautiful morning. It’s been several days without rain now, no doubt this is the longest stretch of dry weather I’ve seen on the whole trail.
After the cookie lady we covered the 12 miles into the town of Dalton as quickly as possible so we could have time to do town chores and then continue past to the next shelter. The first stop in Dalton was an icecream shop on the way into town where I had a grape float. The main goal was to do laundry though, we all changed into our rain gear in order to wash everything else. It gets a bit uncomfortable wearing a full rain outfit when it’s warm and sunny. I did some shopping at the general store while the laundry was going, and when it was done we had pizza for an early dinner before trying to head out of town.
I say trying because the trail was poorly marked and we missed a turn at first; we went maybe 1/3 of a mile before figuring it out and going back. With all the stuff we did in town it took a bit longer than we planned so we ended up getting in some more night hiking. This was a bit more enjoyable than the last night hike because the trail wasn’t as rocky and I had fresh batteries and a fully functioning headlamp.