Appalachian Trail Day 38 - Forest Road 293 to Mountain Harbor Hostel in Reverse - Happy Memorial Day! 400 MILES!! And Back with Kodiak! (Mile 409 to Mile 395)

We are the first ones up in the hostel this morning.  It's surprising quiet, regardless of the number of people sleeping in this building.  I awake at 6:30 am when I think I hear a baby crying, even with my earplugs in.  Half dreaming, I think I am home and hear my infant grandson crying.  I wake up, remembering where I am. I investigate and find the old cat sitting on the landing between the floors, crying for attention.   I pett her for a bit and then curl up quietly on the sofa in my down top quilt, answering emails until other hikers wake.  A German Shepard comes in to say hello.

GG and I join the other hikers at the Inn proper  at 8 am for one of the most incredible breakfasts I can remember! While we wait for the call to eat, we drink coffee on the expansive porch.  We are called to breakfast.  The ladies of the Inn have been cooking since 5:30 am and have an amazing spread of breads, pastries, casseroles, fruit, vegetables, sausage, eggs.  I can go on and on about the fabulous food!  We gather around the buffet and are informed that we can eat as much as we want until the food is gone!  This is the best $15 ever spent on breakfast.  The coffee bar is wonderful as well.  We bow our heads for grace led my Ms. Mary and then tuck in as only hikers are able!

We plan on hiking 15 miles today, so I limit myself to one (very full) plate!  I will feel terrible hiking with a packed stomach, so I take it easy. 

GG and I decided last night to slack pack and spend another night at the hostel.  The same room is open tonight, so it was meant to be. I know we had already pledged to no more slack packing, but it just feels so right!  Plus, yesterday was really hard on both of us mentally, so it's really easy to justify why we need another day here in hiker paradise! We have been communicating with Kodiak, who stayed up the road at The Station last night.  She is going to slack pack as well, but starting closer to town than we are.  She had to do a 15 mile day yesterday in that weather in order to catch up!  She doesn't want to do 15 miles again today, and I don't blame her!

We have a nice surprise when we return to meet our shuttle. Miss Mary, who owns Mountain Harbor, is our shuttle driver.  She is 76 years old and was a nurse before becoming an Innkeeper, so we have a lot to talk about, with over 100 years of nursing experience in the vehicle!  The drive was relatively short, but the road was winding back and forth so much that I am thankful when we reach the trail head. 

Today is chilly and the weather is overcast. The rain stopped overnight, but we have to wear our rain jackets because the leaves are so water logged that if we barely brush against any vegetation (which is unavoidable) we will get showered with a little rain of big, fat water droplets.

In true old lady fashion, we have to stop after five minutes of hiking because nature calls. The first five miles passes quickly and easily; gentle ups and downs on pine-covered trail and streams swollen from the rain, and surrounded by thick stands of rhododendron. 

A fairy vignette in the woods

We see Ragnar and Mochila again!!  We are so happy to see them.  They tell us about how they camped out at Mountaineer Falls Shelter.  They woke this morning to find hundreds of slugs crawling all over their tent.  Yuck!!  They are trying to make Damascus within three days, and must hike 18 miles per day to accomplish this.  I know we won't see them again, and I am sad for it.  Ragnar has a lingering foot injury and is getting off the trail in Damascus and planning on driving north to support Mochila in their RV.

We have already covered five miles after two hours, included bathroom stops and chatting with our friends!   Granted, this trail has been gently undulating and we have climbed only 700 feet over five miles, which is heavenly! We are currently continuing a mild descent to a muddy and swollen stream, that looks more like a river after yesterday's rainfall.  The water looks like an awesome swimming spot on a hot day, but apparently some hikers have come out of the water covered in leeches, so I will refrain for now! Anyway, the temp is still a little chilly. 

We pass J-13, walking in the opposite direction. J is retiring from his job this summer and accumulated enough vacation time so he is getting paid to thru hike!  We are meeting 7 miles into both of our hikes.  We talk about how hard it was to get going this morning with so much wonderful food in our bellies. He tells us that Kodiak is only 10 minutes ahead of us.  

We follow the blue blazes around a rocky promontory to Jones Falls and run into George and Jasper on their way from the falls.  Jasper gives our hands a quick nuzzle for a pet, and we continue around to hear a familiar voice.  Kodiak!!  I am so happy to see her.  She is going to move her belongings from The Station to Mountain Harbor and we can ride together back to the trail tomorrow morning. We enjoy a leisurely lunch and take some pictures in front of the falls, which are beautiful. The falls are at least 100 feet high and come down in sections, separated by fractures in the rocks over which it cascades.

Kodiak, Me, GG at Jones Falls, TN

At the falls we also see Foxy and Purple Haze.  They are also slack packing, which makes me feel better because they have slacked more than we have.  Apparently Steve of Unicoi shuttles is a hot commodity with the middle-aged women hiker crowd.  I am pretty sure our demographic is his bread and butter. 

Kodiak, GG, and I continue town the trail where we are shortly met with the 400 mile mark!! Woo Hoo!!  Only 1800 miles more to go, which is a lot, but we are eating this elephant one small bite at a time. 

Kodiak tells us about her hike yesterday.  She has been hiking a lot more miles than us each day in order to catch up, but to be fair, she has been hiking for six weeks and can do higher miles, especially now that her leg is healed. She stayed at Roan High Knob two nights ago and made it to 19E last night in that ridiculous rain. The mice in that shelter are legendary.  The shelter was stuffed to the gills with wet and dirty hikers.  Some well-meaning hiker decided to turn the lock in the door and another hiker had to beat on the door at 11pm, struggling to get in out of the storm, which was wicked up at that elevation. 

The day is getting muggy and hot. We have been hiking mostly uphill after the falls, and I have to stop a couple times to take off layers and lower my gaiters, which I wear for warmth and to keep the shrubbery from scratching my legs.  I am certainly not complaining; I will take this weather any day over the cold and wet of yesterday. 

We get back to the hostel at 3:30 pm, and GG meets me holding two Sierra Nevada IPA's, and one is for me!  Best trail magic EVER!  We hurry to shower and do laundry before the other hikers arrive.  There are only two showers and washers and dryers for 13 people.  A lot of hikers pool their clothes together for expediency, including us.  I feel decadent, having a shower and clean clothes two days in a row.  We pre-rinse our clothes at the hose bib, not wanting to clog the washing machine with all the dirt and grime.   We are giddy with excitement because tonight the food truck will be open!

The queue for the food truck (which is more like a restaurant on wheels than the garden variety food truck) starts about 10 minutes before it opens.   We mill about and reacquaint with familiar faces, while making introductions with other hikers just arriving.  A lot of hikers who don't want to stay for the night will drop in for dinner and then continue on the trail.  Many big mile hikers stay on the trail until sunset or often later, hiking until they need to go to sleep.  Since we are comfort hikers, I guess we won't be hitting the really big, 20-plus mile days, but we are okay with it. 

I eat one of the best cheesesteaks I have EVER eaten in my life. I order extra American and Provolone cheese, just because I can have as many calories as I want right now.  I also get my absolute favorite pub food, which is fried dill pickle chips with ranch dressing.  I was it down with another beer.  This is now my favorite stop on this hike. I am exploding with a full stomach and contentment.  How can this experience keep getting more amazing?!  It does get better when we see Omen and Maybe again!

I take advantage of the great Wi-Fi to call home and talk to my family.  I miss my husband terribly, and wish he were her to share this with me. I also call my kids and parents, since we may not have cell phone service for the next five days. They will be able to follow me and contact me via my InReach, but I won't have it on 24/7 in order to conserve battery power. 

The two main reasons hikers stop hiking are mental and physical. Many hikers crumble emotionally from missing their families and friends back home. We are holding up well mentally compared to many others: the main benefit of a section hike is being able to go home to see family.  I can't imagine being separated from them for more than a few weeks at a time.    Physically, we are also doing well. The lower miles we have been hiking prevents repetitive use injuries that debilitate so many long-distance hikers.  That being said, my knees are really sore from the constant pounding, and the soles of my feet and the bottoms of my toes are raw from three straight days of hiking with wet, squelching shoes.  I take 600 mg of ibuprofen and hope I am fully recovered tomorrow. 

We say goodnight and hit the hay. 

Today's stats: 14 miles, 2500 feet of gain, 3000 feet of loss

Trail Stats: 409 miles, 96k feet gain