Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 24, Saturday, 4/9 – I woke up early and headed to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. It turns out Sprite was awake before me and had already brewed a pot. The hostel made breakfast this morning, which was breakfast chimichangas. They must have had ingredients leftover from the Mexican dinner last night. Regardless, it was delicious.

Before the hike, I had to pay up for the night in the cabin, the meals, and the food resupply. I had been keeping track of all the expenses on the clipboard they gave me. To settle up, they just gave me a Venmo link to send money. It’s such a laid back place that they didn’t check my tab, my math, or even that the Venmo transfer went through.

It’s cold and snowy today, so none of us really wanted to push a lot of miles. We also didn’t need to. We have a reservation in Hotsprings on Monday, which is only 33 miles from Standing Bear, so there’s no hurry.

Ranger Randy, Genie, Liz (now Splitzy) and Sprite all hiked ahead of me. I hiked most of the day with Parkour and Jetpack. There was a lot of snow today, and it was windy, which made it a cold day. We came across a weird looking facility on the top of Snowbird Peak. A warning sign outside stated, “This facility is used in FAA air traffic control. Loss of human life may result from service interruption.” I’ve never seen anything like it, so I’m curious what it is. If someone knows what this facility might do, leave a comment!

We hiked 7 miles to Groundhog Creek Shelter, which is at mile 249. I showed up to the shelter, thinking it was full, so I set up my tent. But, it turns out that there was space if everyone squeezed together, so I lucked out again and am in a shelter. We hung up tarps and drop cloth in front of the shelter to stop the wind from coming in. It made a big difference. Everyone was still cold during the afternoon, so we hung out in our sleeping bags to stay warm.

After dinner, we read poems before going to bed. I shared the Raven and a few others. Ranger Randy read The Cremation of Sam McGee. Willow also recited a few. It was a fun way to end the night.