May 25 Mile 516

It rained alot last night. But, as before, we were cozy in our tents. Had alot of rain over the past 10 days, but that's normal for the AT, I'm told.
Today we left a little past 7:30 and had a goal of 14 miles to a shelter area ( as the guidebook showed limited camping available. Also, my Sweety is meeting us on Thursday ( two days from now) for a several day visit! This is super! Very excited about that. So we have already picked a rendevous point and are scheduling our hiking to meet her at Mile 538, just 22 miles from here. So we headed out in the moist air and were shocked at the speed we made-5 miles in 2.5 hours and 10 miles before we stopped at lunch a little before 1:00 PM. Cisco says it's because we are now back in shape- after 3.5 weeks back out here- doing more miles faster. I thought it was because of the gentler terrain. And the terrain is less big mountains, so far. Maybe it's both. Whatever, it's nice to go 14 miles by 4 PM. Couldn't do that back in Ga. Bodes well for the miles we hope to make in throughout Virginia. Starting June 1, we'll have about 460 miles of Virginia to do, hopefully by July 4 we'll be through the state. We'll see.
Hiked through some beautiful rhododendron thickets today- full of purple flowers. Saw some fantastic waterfalls and streams. Sure like to keep them handy when we need water.
Saw our first mosquito when we reached our shelter. We got them before they got us. Wanted to tent camp at the shelter area, but the ground was too soft and muddy to put up our tents due to all the rain today. So we're in the shelter and a bunch if others are here too. Pretty crammed in.
Our food supply is getting low, so tonite we ate noodles and cream ( actually powdered creamora) sauce. It's 7:20 PM and already hungry again. Tomorrow is to be a special dinner- the next shelter - about 11 miles- has a phone and it's famous cause you can call and order pizza. I hope this isn't some trail myth. Will find out tomorrow. Hungry for it right now.
Hiking in the rain, as we had to do today is hard for me . I have to put on my rain gear, pull the rain hood over my head , which limits visibility, and constantly watch my feet- rocks, mud, more slippery than normal, and the slippery slopes people are always talking about. And you really can't enjoy the scenery, as you are trying to stay dry and not slide off the mtn. As I mentioned earlier, most if us don't go hiking on rainy days and for good reason.