Day 25, miles today- 19.6, total- 328.6

The storm overnight wasn't as bad as forecasted. There was a thunderstorm for several hours though. Raider, Grim and I got a ride back to the trail at Devil Fork Gap. We were back on trail at 9:40 am. There was a light rain when we started, but within 20 minutes it had stopped. We hoped to catch up with Rabbit to see how his night went. As we were hiking I noticed a lot more little green plants covering the ground. As it warms up in the next several days I'm sure there will be a lot of flowers blooming. At 12:30 we came to a shelter turn off. We were going to stop to eat a little and take a break. At the turn off was a sign that said there was trail magic 2.4 miles ahead. It said "free meal". Was it an old sign? Could we trust it? We didn't have to think long about our next move. When we arrived at Sam's Gap we saw a pickup truck and a few hikers. Quiet Paul, a past thru hiker, was serving scrambled eggs and hash browns, made to order. I had a plate completely full. I also had an orange, baggie of cookies, and a Coke. It was a great lunch! We talked to him about his hike. He lives in Asheville NC. A hiker there, Human, said that Rabbit had left 20 minutes before we arrived. At about 3:00 pm we came to a clearing and saw Rabbit sitting with a couple other guys. It was good to see him. I asked how his night was. He said there was a thunderstorm but that he had stayed dry. He camped near a few other hikers for safety reasons. He had hiked 5 miles after we left him yesterday. After talking a few minutes we started hiking. Raider hiked out front with Rabbit. Around 5 pm everyone had bunched back up. Raider, Grim and I planned to camp somewhere soon. Rabbit said he was going to continue on for several more miles. It looks like we may be splitting up, at least for now. I had enjoyed hiking, camping, and hanging out with him. I'm 35 years older than him, but we got along great. He seems very mature for his age. Raider, Grim and I came to Bald Mountain Shelter where we were planning to camp. We weren't going to stay in the shelter because of the illnesses, but after looking around and reading some of the register we decided to move on up the trail. Many people had been sick there in the last couple days. I saw where Guard wrote he was feeling sick. Another hiker said Guard had been vomiting. We hiked another 3.5 miles to get to Whistling Gap where the guide said a campsite was. There were several tents there. It was about 7:30 pm when I arrived. I setup my tent, got water, ate and got in my sleeping bag.