I suppose it seems strange to you readers that I would stop and stay
in a town after ranting a bit about how it leads to tough hiking the
following day. But if you were me it would make sense.
I left Walnut Mountain Shelter at 7:45 and chomped on two clifbars the
first 20 minutes. I now prefer cold breakfast because you can get up
and go much faster. And no clean up either. The mileage for the day
was 13.1, not a tough day, but I wanted to make it into town early
enough to make phone calls. Unfortunately when I got to Hot Springs I
had no service so I couldn't call anyone. Sorry Jen, I will call you
as soon as I can. I was able to use the Internet at the library a bit
at least.
Anyway, the hiking was nice today, a couple steep ups and 1 steep
decline right into town, but I've definitely gotten my hiking legs at
this point so it's all good!
When I got into town I went to the first hostel but it was full up,
which ended up being a good thing because I went up to this B&B called
the Duckett House that has a 4-room bunkhouse for hikers ($15
including shower) and I was the first one there. I knew Marcus was
behind me and wouldn't get a room at the other place so I met him at
the trailhead and told him about Duckett. He came up and it ended up
being just him and I here.
We went into town and used the library, then went over to this
restaurant Rock Bottom (not the same chain as the one in City Place)
at 5pm and got some, you guessed it...burgers. I probably had 6 Dr.
Peppers too. It really hit the spot. Then we did a small resupply at
Dollar General. I bought a 1/2 gallon of milk and box of cereal
because I've been missing milk a lot. We brought it back up to Duckett
and hung out on our little porch entrance to the bunkhouse, drinking
coffee and talking about a bunch of different stuff. I like talking to
Marcus because he has a really cool outlook on life, work, this trip,
etc. Basically he says you can't really plan too much because you
never know what can happen. You'll always be able to find work/a job,
so just go with the flow more. Don't stress. It's nothing new, Ive
heard similar things, but being on this hike and hearing it is
different. It has certainly expanded my perspective on things.
So after some coffee I started eating the cereal and milk, and I
didn't know when to stop because I ate so much I ended up throwing up.
Whoops. It was all good though and we had a laugh. Afterward we just
hung in the bunkhouse and did misc. chores like reorganizing gear,
something you do a lot of out here. Marcus ended up making some hiker
grill cheeses later on (well after I puked so I was able to eat again)
and they came out great for the limited supplies he had. Now it's bed
time, 10:30, a late night. Oh, I got to do my laundry here too, in a
real washer and dryer this time! All is well and I feel good. Probably
going to do a 15 or so tomorrow, might be starting a little late though.
Total miles: 271.8
Hahaha bro u puked!!!! It must b hard to not mowdown when u get into a town though!!!! And it's funny how u were chugging dr. Pepper I musta rubbed off on u!
ReplyDeleteHey Monk, it was nice to be able to chat with you online, even though it was only for a few minutes. I'm definitely looking forward to that phone call though! Does the wait 30 minutes before swimming rule apply to hiking? I bet it does, but at least not waiting won't cause you to drown! I took some NyQuil to try and get to sleep last night (that should tell you how icky I feel. You know I hate taking NyQuil), but still didn't sleep well at all. I can't wait for this cold to go away. Lani says "Hi" and that she misses you. I do too and we can't wait to hear from you! Love you!
ReplyDeleteHey Dan! The getting sick reminded me about the time at Denny's after that huge chocolate milkshake! You are too funny! It sounded cool about the B&B. Happy Trails to you!
ReplyDeleteHaha dan u made me laugh then I read mary's comment and laughed even more. Milk and cereal all the way! Xoxo!
ReplyDeleteHey Dan! Sooo not good to be eating so much that it causes you to puke! All that wasted milk and cereal, too. Glad to hear that you have Marcus to hike with (sometimes) and hang with at the shelters/hostels/camps. He sounds like a wise young guy, complete with some of the wisdom of life without stressing. I always told Jen to "pick your battles", which is one way to pick what you stress out about. Some things are so not worth the bother. Anyway, your posts are such a joy to read every day. Paul and I continue to enjoy them so much. Keep them coming, and keep on truckin'. Aloha, Paul and Judy.
ReplyDeleteHA the duckett house... When Andy and I rolled through, the bunk house was closed because it was still winter, so the guy who ran it let us stay in the B&B but made us paint AN ENTIRE ROOM. The room to the left of the kitchen going outside? Andy and I painted. We wanted to take a zero day, but since he was making us work so much we ended up leaving at 7 at night to camp on the outskirts of town. Ass... he wouldnt let us stay unless we agreed to help build a house he was doing down the street.
ReplyDelete