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.

Day 43: OverMountain Shelter to Mountain Harbour Hostel

8.7 miles (+.3 from shelter, +.2 to hostel)

Woke up to rain, so we decided to take it slow since we only had 9 miles to hike. Got ready to leave about 10am - left the barn and went about 100 feet before a downpour with thunder and lightning started. We turned right back around and went back tot he barn. Found some cards and played hearts with Rusty and Toast until noon. (UV & Whole Bean & Mazey were there, too). It was really neat to watch the fog roll across the valley.

Left - once more - and got hot almost immediately going up the first hill. Took off the rain jacket and ate some Reeses Pieces and pretended to look at the views (visibility was terrible).

Started up Hump Mountain - a big steep bald - and the wind and rain really picked up. No lightning, though, so I put the rain jacket back on and kept going. Stopped for lunch on the other side of the mountain once the weather started to clear. There are lots of rocks on this section of the trail - hard on the feet but kinda fun to figure out the best path along the way - like a jigsaw puzzle.

Had enough service to call the hostel - they still had our "semi private" room reserved! So nice to know we had a place to stay since the weather was pretty crappy.

Saw some bright orange salamanders - really pretty little things that were right in the middle of the trail. Lots of creepy red and black centipedes. Fields of wildflowers - really amazing. Heard an owl when we crossed Doll Flats (at the NC/TN border). Now we are in TN headed for Virginia.

Got to the hostel in time for the "town shuttle" - fairly terrifying experience as the driver was either intoxicated or otherwise shouldn't have been driving. He let us out at a BBQ joint - pretty good BBQ sandwich for dinner. Ate with Dragonfly and Onyx - they are avoiding shelters altogether (Onyx got sick before Erwin).

We should get to Damascus on OWL's birthday!