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 44: Mountain Harbour Hostel to Vango Abby Memorial Hostel

13.0 miles
Huge amazing breakfast this morning. Shrimp & grits, monkey bread, french toast with toasted pecans and maple syrup, strawberry cake, stuffed strawberries with pineapple, corn casserole, poached pears, keilbasa sausage, potatoes with green beans, biscuits & gravy, egg omlet casserole, coffee and juice. Ate with ET (energizer turtle) and spider who are starting their section hike. Saw Bearfoot, who is still having trouble with his knee and is going to wait for M80/Trooper/Willow to arrive today.

But, time to walk. We took the short blue blaze trail to Jones Falls - absolutely spectacular! Took off shoes and socks and soaked my aching feet in the cold water.

Walked a bit with Human (who is wearing Bunny glasses) and saw a baby rattlesnake. I also saw a black snake a few miles later.

Fairly easy terrain but my feet hurt badly. I can't wait to get new shoes in Damascus.

The trail followed the Elk River for a while, then back up the mountain. Got water from a waterfall - pretty neat. I like this section of the trail a lot.

We decided to stay at the hostel because it is supposed to storm hard tonight. We had called to reserve two bunks but they were full by the time we showed up. So we got the "private" room on top of the house. Saw a girl go up to the house and then turn away super sad, so we asked if she wanted to sleep on the foldout bed in our room. She was very excited to do so and gave us some awesome chocolate (dark chocolate + sea salt + caramel) as well as paying her share. Her name is Shutterbug.

We are going to try to get to Kincora tomorrow. This is the hostel run by Bob Peoples, who is a legendary figure on the trail. I like this hostel-to-hostel thing we have going on.