MST Trek Day 73

I am currently on Okracoke Island, sitting at the Topless Oyster Bar.  Woke up early this morning and got started hiking early-- we were on trail before 6am.  That was good for Tennille because of the heat, but bad for me because of the bugs.  I have really grown to hate the stinging horseflies.  We got our 9 miles done, and made the 10am ferry to Okracoke.  After a 2 1/2 hour ride, we arrived on the island.  Civilization here seems to be limited to the first mile of the trail.  When we made the first turn to go to the beach, we found that the sand was very deep and very soft.  We found out the hard way that you have to let air out of your tires or have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, or you get stuck, like Jef did.  Disaster  was averted when some nice people came and towed him out of the sand.  While this was going on, Tennille and I navigated the beach section.  Walking along the high tide line is much harder than it would seem for a blind person and his Guide Dog.  For us, it was like dead reckoning navigation in the middle of the night in the middle of the ocean-- nearly impossible. We found that we had overshot our turn by nearly a mile, and had to backtrack. After that, we went to the Topless Oyster Bar to see Janille and her friend, Jenny, who interviewed us for the online newspaper.  We were surprised to find out that the number of miles to be hiked on Okracoke was less than anticipated.  The majority of this section is one long road walk with sand on both sides.  We have a little less than 9 miles to make it to the ferry to Hatteras, where we will be meeting with the Information Officer for the NC Department of Transportation for an interview.  The folks at the oyster bar are putting us up in one of their apartments, AND they are feeding us.  We couldn't be happier.  Once we hit the mainland, we will have about 64 miles to go.  Jef got some great footage on the ferry and hiking on the beach.