Last night I wrote about the monotony of our miles. As if to defy my, the trail offered us what I think has been our most beautiful and exciting morning yet – or at the very least, in a long time.
The woods were gorgeous. We passed all kinds of flowers. The azaleas are blooming now. We walked through boulder passes, with tall walls of rock face. We passed an old barn that nature was working on reclaiming. We had breakfast at another waterfall, this one far more grand than the last. We hiked near rapids, the roar of the river filling our ears. We followed the trail and shimmied around a small ledge of those rapids. The pièce de résistance… seeing a river otter. It was the first time Warthog remembers seeing an otter in the wild. The adorable little guy was playing in a deeper pool of the river. When he spotted us, he looked right at us and swam closer, interested in who and what we were. It was probably our most exciting wild animal yet. Salamanders, turtles, and garter snakes are cool – but a river otter?! That’s awesome.
It was 10.4 miles to town. Six of those miles were dedicated to a mountain for literally no reason. We could have bypassed the mountain by taking a 1.5 mile side trail out of a shelter to town. But some cruel trail designer decided it would be so much more fun for us to climb up and over and then down and in. It would be “cheating” for us to skip that section. Our pride wouldn’t allow us to. So hike it we did.
As we were almost to the summit we heard a familiar voice yelling out to us. It was Lotus! She had stayed in a hostel in Hampton last night, but still needed to hike the mountain this morning. We hugged, trying to work our way around hiking poles and backpacks. It was so nice seeing a familiar face. For the last week Warthog and I have been out of sync with anyone we know. We met one or two hikers whose company we enjoyed. But some groups were really hard to crack.
Lotus, Warthog, and I finished the last three or so miles together. We made it out of the woods right on schedule. Kirby met us just north a bit, near a state park. Next to him was trail magic! Reunion with friends and trail magic?! It was a fantastic afternoon! Even more, the trail magic was from Granny and Old Goat again! They were people we had seen earlier in the trip. They promised to head north and said, “I’m sure we’ll see you all again.” I didn’t believe it. I never would have thought that our schedules would line up like they did. But here they are again! It was so cool to have that consistency. We stayed, ate lunch, and visited a bit. Atlas was still out on the trail, so we waited for him down on the lawn of the state park, near the lake and amongst all of the ducks. I blew up my sleeping bad and sat on that in the shade, happy to rest a bit.
Around 3p or so, Atlas arrived. We didn’t see them, but while we were near the water, his parents had joined in on the trail magic station as well. They brought chips, crackers, toilet paper, soda, juice, and fruit. In the back of their car was reserved treats just for us. His parents were awesome. His mom continuously trying to send more and more food with us. It was incredibly generous and appreciated. Later I asked Atlas if growing up, his house was the one all of the friends went to. I said, “I could just see your mom constantly offering up snacks and other goodies.” He laughed and said it was.
After a while it was time to move on. We helped both trail magic stations pack up and Atlas said goodbye to his parents while we all gave them space for hugs and such. Then we walked across the street and down a bit to the Boots Off hostel. They offer bunk houses, but currently only had campsites available for $10- per person. Not too bad. We’ve paid that before. The hostel was beautiful. It was all new and the owner did a fantastic job planning it out. There were small bunkhouses that slept 4. Each was a different color. The camp pads were level and slightly apart from the next one so you had a sense of privacy. The common area had picnic tables and a fire ring. Plus a kitchen with a fridge and sink for your use. Everything was well thought out, aesthetically pleasing, and clean. For $10-, I was more than happy to be there.
We set up camp, took advantage of the porta john opportunity (I made sure not to surprise anyone again). Around 6:30p we got a shuttle into town for resupplies and dinner. We grabbed s’more fixings and McDonald’s for dinner. It was 8p before we were back at the hostel and ready to eat. After 30 minutes of thoroughly stuffing ourselves, Lotus and Atlas started playing a card game. Kirby provided the headlamp light for it. Warthog started the fire. I caught up with my sister. Then we all gathered around the fire and talked until 11:15p. It was late, but we were so amped up to be visiting again that time seemed to slip away.
It is a beautiful night. We still have the rainfly on, which I’m glad for because a bird decided to decorate it while we were gone. If the rainfly was off, that would be all over the inside of our tent. However, since it’s so nice, we left the door open on our canopy to allow the fresh air in. I still feel gross because I couldn’t get a shower, but I know we just have three more days until Damascus. Just three days… I can deal with being a bit crusty.
-ansel