Tent Site to 501 Shelter

At 5:00 am I heard thunder and knew it was going to start raining. My tent was dry and I thought... "Lay here and be dry in my tent when it starts OR pack up my dry tent quickly before it starts. " I opted for #2 so I kicked in to gear. Packed up as fast as I could and was hiking by 5:45.  Had to hike the first few miles in the rain, but I had my pack cover on, so everything stayed dryish. Came to this cool footbridge mid morning.

This is definitely our 'week of rain'. Since Sunday, it's rained pretty much every day and night. Makes for really green foliage.

Lots of the trail today was nice but there are sections that look like this. Yes, that is the trail.

This is what I pictured for all of PA . Not so much fun anyway, but in the rain... It's slow going. 

With the early start, I had my miles in by noon and went in to Pine Grove for insoles. Got 'em and they feel like pillows!! Should help a lot. Did my laundry, dried my gear and went back out to the trail. Not a fan of shelters, I usually opt for my tent, but tonight I am in the shelter and it's a nice one. Four walls, a roof and a door!!! Fancy schmancy! Glad to be in out of the rain. More forecast for Thursday and Friday, but I'm glad to be out of it for now.

A few hikers here tonight that I had heard of but hadn't met. Speedy G and Mayonaise Pockets. Turns out they started from Springer Mountain the same day I did, but we just never crossed paths. So weird!