I walked 57200 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 26 miles today.
Three days (and nights) of rain, mud, and wet foliage didn't stop us from working our way through the Chequamegon forest and out the other side. Not that it was a good idea.
Weather was supposed to clear last night, but rain all night finally let up around 7:30am. We quickly broke camp and got hiking - it continued off and on all morning.
With high humidity, our socks and shoes had no chance dry overnight. Squishing feet already tender from the previous wet day into those shoes was not fun! Once a couple miles had passed, the feet mercifully stopped sending pain signals - they were bloated and numb.
The 17 mile hike out of the forest was uneventful - just miles of trees and rain. When we reached hwy 64, we had an 8-mile roadwalk to Gilman. We dodged rain clouds the whole way, being very lucky.
In Gilman, there is one restaurant so we stumbled through the door and found a place to sit. We immediately made friends with Nicki and some other patrons enjoying their dinners. My burger was big, hot, and very filling - perfect!
One fellow in the diner listened to our stories and then invited us to rest up at his place, get showers, and wash our socks! Ed is a Trail Angel among trail angels. With our scraped, peeling, and blistered feet, each step was a chore. Now that we're clean and dry, things are healing and resting. Tomorrow's hike will be safer, more painless, and enjoyable with rejuvenated bodies, clean socks, and new friends to talk about as we hike along.
Thanks, Ed, for all your trail magic.