Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 52, Saturday, 5/7 – I woke up in the hammock after the night of steady rain. I stayed dry through the night. I’m loving the hammock setup, I actually feel confident that I’m going to stay dry during storms now.

Parkour and I had a good laugh in the morning. I played a little prank on him last night as we were trying to beat the storm. As we were hiking, we all agreed that we would stop at the first tent site. We only needed one flat spot because Jetpack and I both have hammocks. When we found the spot, I started looking for trees and pointed to two trees that spanned the only tent site. I told Parkour I was setting up between those two trees. He had an incredulous look on his face and was about to explain to me why I wasn’t going to set up there. He lightened up when he realized I was messing with him. He found it more amusing in the morning when the situation was less critical.

We all hiked out together for the first few miles. Parkour and Jetpack needed to resupply food to make it to Woods Hole Hostel. The trail crossed a road, so they started to hitch to Bland. I had packed enough food, so I didn’t need to resupply. Bland only has a Dollar General, so it didn’t seem like a fun time to tagalong on their resupply. We made plans to meet at Woods Hole on Monday, and I hiked on.

Soon after, I bumped into Karen. Karen is a section hiker, attempting to complete the AT over the course of a few years. We hiked and chatted for a good 10 miles. We also hiked past mile 600 today!

It was rainy all afternoon. It didn’t feel like it was was raining enough to justify putting the rain jacket on. However, it rained enough for my clothes to be wet through.

Karen and I hiked to Jenny Knob Shelter, which is where she was staying for the night. It was still somewhat early, so I wanted to hike on. Jeff and Bubbles were at the shelter; they had stopped to eat but were also planning to continue hiking.

I hiked out of the shelter with Jeff and Bubbles. We didn’t really have a destination in mind. It was still raining when we started to hike, so i put on my rain jacket. Unfortunately, it was still wet from the night before.

As we hiked, the rain picked up and the temperature dropped. I started to look for a campsite, but realized a reliable water source was a pretty far ways off. I had enough water to camp away from a water source, but it wouldn’t have been comfortable. I probably wouldn’t have been able to cook dinner. As we were hiking, Bubbles mentioned that there was a hostel a few miles up trail. I hadn’t originally considered a hostel, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was a good idea. Towards the end of the hike, I was wet, cold, and very hungry.

We showed up to the front door of Weary Feet Hostel soaking wet (24 miles total to mile 610). We met Julie at the front door. Not expecting indoor accommodations, Jeff asked if she had tent spaces available. Julie answered by saying she had 3 bunk beds left for $25 each. Sold.

I took a hot shower and changed out of my wet clothes immediately. I kept thinking about how long it would have taken for me to warm up if I was camping outside.

After showering, Julie made us dinner. I had two gigantic plates of spaghetti, four rolls, and a slice of chocolate cake. My body needed it. I’m much happier at the hostel then I would have been outside in the rain.