Day 47 - Friday, July 29

Linda

We were on the trail at 6:50 this morning. During the night we were visited by two porkies. Everything was hung up out of harm's way, but they still made a real racket. Porcupines have such a high pitched cry that really pierces through the night. The 5 miles to Dalton were fairly easy and we got to the outskirts by 7:40. Saw a raccoon on the way into town - the first one we've seen. Had to walk into town from the trail, but it wasn't too far. Did a quickie clothes wash and mailed the package. Ronald called his parents and found that the sleeping bags still haven't even arrived there yet. May be in Virginia before we get them. We were back on the trail by 11:00, and walked through several nice residential sections and the Crane Paper Company before getting back into the woods.

Road walking on a hot day is a real killer. There's not much water on the trail through here either, so we walked for 7 miles before stopping for lunch at a brook. We were only going another 3 miles to October Mountain Shelter because we'd been hearing of a lady named Midge Tufts, who lives in a log cabin on the old AT, who comes down each night and brings through hikers home with her. We took a turn to avoid a swamp which we thought was ahead and ended up at the top of the hill on the old AT. Turned out we'd come through what they called the swamp and didn't realize it, and had been within 200 yards of the shelter. Walked all the way back down and sat around the shelter waiting for Midge. We were really looking forward to her coming by. Talked to some other hikers at the shelter while we waited, and waited, and waited. . . By 7:30 we figured she wasn't coming and were starting to fix our own dinner when up she walked. She's kind of a neat little lady with a fantastic memory for names and facts, but she seems to favor Northbounders. Maybe because she sees more about them. She talks about them like they are her children. As it turned out, she was leaving to pick up her grandchildren early the next morning so couldn't ask us up to her house. What a disappointment! We'd had such a big buildup about Midge and her hospitality. Oh well - she did stay and chat with us until dusk, so at least we got to meet her. After she left we fixed dinner by candlelight and went to bed around 10:00. Looks like no more prospects for a bath for a while.

Ron

Started fairly early and hiked the five miles to Dalton by 9:00. We went to the laundromat to wash clothes. Linda took care of the laundry while I hit the store and Post Office. I picked up a half gallon of orange juice to wash down the brownies we had received from home. I finally got in touch with Mom. It looks like we'll have to tote the heavy sleeping bags for awhile. At least I got rid of the bulk of the tent. We left Dalton around 11:00 and started the hot uphill climb out of town. We didn't stop for lunch until 2:00 when we found an area with water. After resting an hour we headed off to October Mountain Lean-to. We wanted to stay there and hoped we might get invited to stay at Midge. Tufts. We heard from other hikers that she frequently takes hikers into her home for a place to sleep, bath and something to eat.

Another hiker warned us of a bad swamp just before the lean-to and we wanted to avoid it by taking the old AT. We were going to hike to the last road before the swamp then take the old AT around. We got to what we thought was the road and hiked on out. When we got to the end of the road we discovered we had passed the swamp and had to backtrack a half mile on the old AT. We also learned that the lean-to was only 200 feet on the other side of the road we turned on. So much for short cuts.

We picked up some water (as we were informed the supply at the lean-to was bad) and hiked back down. We sat around awhile waiting for Midge to come by. During the wait I tapped my pack frame were the hip belts are attached. The belt was beginning to wear through. Midge finally came around just before dark. She could not invite us in because she had to leave early in the morning. Oh well, another day shot and no bath. We fixed supper in the dark and talked to another couple that had arrived at the shelter.

(15 Miles - 611 Total)