I slept in the Angel’s Rest Hiker Hostel bunk house. I slept ok. Other than the fact I woke up in the middle of the night a little chilly. I wasn’t sure how cold it was going to get over night so I didn’t get out my sleeping bag. After doing so I slept a little better. Bunk houses can be challenging to sleep in. Especially if you’re sharing it with folks that snore. Even if people aren’t snoring, people moving around, coming and going, etc. can disrupt your sleep. But all-in-all everyone was very respectful of one another and pretty quiet.

I had a quick protein bar and packet of oatmeal for breakfast. I stopped in the common area house to see what everyone else’s plans were for the day. There were quite a few people eating breakfast. “Paws”, whom I hadn’t met before, was cooking eggs, sausage and potatoes. Another hiker by the name of “Sticks” was cooking crepes. They had a ton of leftover food and offered me some. They said it all needed to be eaten. So I went and grabbed Mulligan as well. It was pretty amazing. It sure beat my protein bar and oatmeal I had earlier. With my new lighter pack, new more comfortable shoes, and a full belly, I was ready for a big day of hiking!

Our plan was to tackle 26 miles. That’s a pretty big day. Even if we were slack packing. There was a bailout spot after 15 miles if we didn’t feel like completing all 26. I met another hiker by the name of For Sure. That was one of her frequent sayings. IE: Me “Do you like pancakes?” Her “for sure”. We hiked a good part of the day together. She was from NC but lives in NYC now. She’s an attorney. Though she lives in the city she would rather live out in the country, on a big piece of land, with some animals. “Maybe one day” she said.

She had a dilemma we discussed while we hiked. She has a very close friend who is getting married at the end of the month. She was trying to figure out if she should get off the trail to go to the wedding. She was leaning towards not going. There would be logistical challenges and she’d be off trail for 4 days. She’d have to get off trail, get a ride to an airport, fly to NYC, get another ride home, get ready, get a gift, and make it to the wedding. Seems like a lot I agree.

I shared with her my thoughts on this. I told her hiking the AT was pretty incredible. Hiking the AT PLUS making time and putting forth the effort to be there for family and friends when they needed us was even more incredible. I got the sense from talking to her, and knowing she was an attorney, that she just might be an overachiever. She was ahead of me while we were hiking. We hit a small hill and she slowed down and let me pass her. I saw her put her headphones in so I figured she was going to listen to some music. So I marched ahead.

A few minutes later I caught up with Mulligan. He was sitting a large rock overlooking Wilburn Valley. It was pretty. We sat and had a snack together and refilled our bodies with water. A few minutes later For Sure caught up with us. She wasn’t listening to music, she was calling a family member, to work out the logistical issues she mentioned so she could make it to her friend’s wedding. I smiled and said, “you and your friend are going to be so happy you made it. She smiled back and nodded in agreeance.

The hike wasn’t bad at all. It was pretty enjoyable actually. Mostly rolling hills with a few small mountains to climb. We passed by several small streams and a posh pond full of fish. Mulligan’s knees were bothering him though. And with me wearing brand new shoes that weren’t broken in yet, we decided to take advantage of the bail out opportunity after the 15 miles. For Sure decided to press on and complete the other 9 miles. I did mention she was an overachiever didn’t I? 🙂 Our bailout was a mile walk down a dirt road which actually led to another hostel known as Woods Hole Hostel. We knew they had smoothies made from fruit from their own farm. After hiking and sweating all day, we were looking forward to this, while we waited for our shuttle to pick us up.

Woods Hole Hostel is on a self-sustainable farm. It was run by a wife and husband duo but they recently divorced. So the wife, or ex-wife, Neville was taking care of everything on her own now. They offered private rooms, bunks in a bunk house, tenting, home cooked meals from their garden, massages and free yoga. It was a really nice place. Unfortunately she only made smoothies for her lodging guests. Since we weren’t staying there, we couldn’t have a smoothie 🙁 They did have cold drinks for sale though. So we grabbed a few of those, called for our shuttle, and plopped down on the bench outside and socialized with some of the hikers staying there, while watching others partaking in the group yoga, and snapped some pics of the pigs grazing close by. (http://woodsholehostel.com/)

Our shuttle arrived from Angels Rest Hiker Haven. They pulled right up the driveway, both driver and passenger hopped out, and greeted Neville with big hugs. It was so nice to see two competing hostels greet each other with such love. Even though we weren’t really customers of Neville’s hostel, she too gave us big hugs, as we piled our gear and ourselves into the van and headed off down the dirt road. We arrived back at Angels Rest a few minutes later.

We showered and met up with several other hikers in the common area house. Lash, M-n-M, Fire Plug were all hanging out on the front porch. We chatted with them about our hike that day, plans for dinner, and plans for hiking the following day. We decided on Chinese food for dinner but then learned they weren’t open for some reason. I touched base with Step Daddy too to see what he and his crew were up to. They were back at the Mexican Restaurant. Mexican 2 nights in a row? Not ideal, but we all agreed we’d head over there, and I’d get to hangout with Step Daddy again.

We filled our bellies, walked back to the hostel, climbed in our bunks, and passed out. One thing that came up over dinner was a saying I hadn’t heard before about hiking the AT… “The last one to Katahdin wins”. I really liked this. The underlining meaning is about taking your time with the hike, and everyone wins that finishes the trail, even if you’re the last one to touch the Katahdin sign for the year.

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