Day 45: Vango hostel -> Kincora hostel

Woke up throughout the night - no rain but LOTS of strong wind. Went outside about 7 (down to the house to connect to wifi) and checked the weather. Storms start at 11. So it was a race to the first shelter - 6 miles uphill - we left about 8.

There was a cold drizzle of rain, and plenty of wind, but no lightning or thunder. Still, I practically ran up the trail and got there just before 11. 3mph uphill! I couldn't believe it, and neither could OWL. She said "I'm not your mom, but I'm proud of you!".

There was a burst of heavy rain at 11, but the real downpour didn't start until 1:30. It lasted until about 3. Steps, ET, Spider, and Dutch all showed up at the shelter during the downpour. Some decided to stay at the shelter for the day, but we started walking after the storm passed. It was still cold rain, but I stayed pretty dry.

Got to Kincora about 5:45pm. This is a great place with a great vibe - basically everything I expected from a hostel on the AT. Good kitchen, a place to hang out, three flushing toilets, a shower room, free laundry, free shuttles to town.

I am officially a creature of the trail. Yesterday I did not take a shower at the Vango hostel, even though there was one available. And today, I went outside and fired up my stove to cook dinner...was talking with this dude named Hammer when someone came outside and looked at me real strange. "Zag, you know there is an electric stove inside, right? Save your fuel and heat up water on the stove!"

There are a bunch of people here. Clevergirl & crew are here. Rusty & Toast, too (it's Toast's birthday and Rusty baked her a cake!). Shutterbug is here, along with Starman (from Hawaii; has hiked the PCT) and lots of others. We are one big weird family.