day 16 - 3/26

it started to clear last night before i went to bed and we all woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning. again, i met some great people at cosby shelter. everyone i have met so far is so great. just really awesome people. there are some strange ones, but for the most part everyone rocks. i was dreading the hike a little today because of my blisters. turns out, though, that they are more like scrapes. all i can figure is that they are scrapes from the friction of the top of my water logged shoes rubbing against the top of my feet. i started my hike today with moleskin on, but ended up taking it off about 2mi in because it was falling off. i hiked about 13mi in the beautiful sun and then found this awesome spot where a stream split in two and formed this little island. i took off my boots and socks and soaked my feet. that felt sooooo good. i also took a little sponge bath, since i haven't showered since my first and only shower on day 10. it felt awesome. then i just laid in the sun for about an hour and half. blissful. i ended up hiking past my planned 18mi at groundhog shelter to a campsite in brown gap. again, met some really cool people. i am debating whether or not to do 18ish tomorrow with a nearo of 5mi into hot springs with an overnight, or to pull out the full 23mi into hot springs and then nearo the next with a noondayish (possible new word) start. we shall see. 20.4mi from cosby shelter to brown gap. 248.4 total.