Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 36, Thursday, 4/21 – I put a small slice into my air mattress when I was packing up this morning. My quilt clips to my mattress, and it takes a good bit of force to unclip the plastic piece from the mattress. When I unclipped the quilt, my hand continued forward into the mattress, and the plastic piece sliced the mattress.

I hate making mistakes as a result of not thinking things through. This mistake was avoidable. I could have deflated the air mattress first, or unclipped the quilt in such a way that the mattress wouldn’t be the backstop. Anyway, my first impulse was to fix the hole. I remembered the mattress came with a repair kit. I rubbed the space with an alcohol wipe and applied the field repair patch. I’ll probably replace this patch with a more permanent solution when I get an opportunity.

Right after it happened I was in a sour mood. But I quickly thought to myself that what’s done is done, and I can choose to be in bad mood about it or I can accept that it happened and let it go. Being in a bad mood wouldn’t help anything, so I got over it.

I hiked through more of the Roan Highlands today. I loved today’s hike. Even though the scenery was similar to yesterday’s hike, it was a very different experience. I was hiking early enough that there were only 2 other hikers on the Roan Mountains. There’s a stronger feeling of being connected to nature when you have the place to yourself. I was also much more relaxed.

There was amazing cloud activity over the Roans. I hiked up into, and above, bands of clouds. There was a section of trail where a band of clouds were continuously washing over the mountains. As soon as the cloud passed over the gap, the cloud would disperse and disappear. I sat and watched this for a while.

Sprite and I hiked 9 miles today to highway 19E (mile 395), to find Mason with trail magic. Mason hiked in 2018, and had hot dogs, gatorades, and snacks. This hit the spot.

As we were about to walk the half mile down the highway to the hostel, a shuttle pulled up to the trailhead. It happened to be from The Station at 19E, so we didn’t have to walk down the road.

Once I got to The Station at 19E, I started my chores. I found some loaner clothes, started laundry, and took a shower. I think I forgot how to shower. I put soap in my hands with the intention of washing my face, and literally just shoved soap into both eyes.

I also picked up a few packages that had arrived at the hostel. My hammock arrived, so I spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with it and putting it together. I’ll mail my tent back home before I leave the hostel tomorrow.

What’s more exciting, is that I got some trail magic shipped to me! I received banana bread and oatmeal cookies from my Aunt Jeanine and Uncle Jim. The cookies were great, but the banana bread was out of this world! It was gone immediately and was a crowd favorite for sure.

I also received a bunch of candy from my next door neighbors, and got handmade artwork from the neighbor kiddos! Such a great gift. I was showing off the pictures and everyone was admiring the art.

Unfortunately, a package with treats from the Ross family must not have arrived yet. But, I coordinated with the hostel and they’ll bounce it up trail once it arrives.

Finally, what a night. Not only were we celebrating Genies birthday, but we were also throwing Willow a goodbye party. Willow got a permit to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I’m excited for her, but I’m going to miss her. We hiked and camped a lot together. She has a great personality, we get along well, and she always has great insight.

So the party was held at the bar, which is on the 1st floor of the hostel. Next to the bar was the music room, which held Karaoke. Karaoke was an absolute riot. At first everyone was picking Southern songs, so I got up and sung Promised Land by Elvis Presley. Then it evolved into typical Karaoke songs. Lots of singing along, lots of dancing, lots of smiles. It was ridiculous in the best way.

Birthday Sandwich bought Genie a sandwich for his birthday. Naturally, we put candles in the sandwich.

I also played a game of chess with Hundred Grand today and another game later with Sydney. I played a lot before getting on trail, so I like when I get the opportunity to play now.