Mile Marker 88 to Augusta

My original plan was to camp at Marthasville. I arrived at Marthasville at 1:00. I had been bedding down for the night at 9: when it gets dark so I really didn't want to hang out for 8 hours. I've been there before so I decided to move on to Augusta. My feet still hurt but always seemed to loosen up about a mile or so into the trip. This would be a 22-mile day to Klondike Park in Augusta (mile marker 64) but I felt confident. Be careful on this leg it's pretty open especially around Nona. The clouds were getting very black in the west. I picked up the pace trying to beat the impending storm. Lots of thunder but no lighting. I was managing to stay just ahead of the storm so I didn't dare stop even though I was exhausted. I reached the trailhead in Augusta at mile marker 66. I had covered 20 miles at a quick pace so I dropped my pack and collapsed on the bench at the Kiosk. It was at that moment that I realized 46 years old was too old for this and I should have done this crap 15 years ago. After 20 minutes I told myself it was only 2 more miles to Klondike and it was over so I needed to go. I felt like I'd just been mugged when I got up. I made it about 20 feet when the rain started coming down in buckets. I went back to the kiosk and put the cover on my pack and my rain gear on. The cool rain was quite refreshing after a long day of hard hiking. I'd hiked this stretch many times but forgot about the big hill going up to the park. This was one of those stop and rest every 10 steps kind of hills. I thought I was going to die.
I made it to the top and grabbed the first campsite I saw. The basic sites have covered picnic table, and a fire pit. I managed to get the tent up and it was nice and dry inside. Here's the trick: Lightweight hiking tents are relatively small. A 2 person actually only holds one person and their pack. I managed to erect the tent on top of the picnic table under cover and merely walk it out to the spot and stake it down. The rain stopped so I walked to the shower house, paid my fee and had a nice hot shower. The hot shower, change of wet dirty clothes for dry dirty clothes and fresh socks, and a nice hot meal of beef stew made me feel like a new man. I hung the food bag, crawled into the tent and immediately fell asleep into a deep slumber.