Date: 2019-04-05
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap/Franklin
Miles today: 3.8

Rain rain go away... so the result of my tent test was good! Unfortunately a little water got through into the tent, but overall everything was dry and I was warm and that¢s a huge plus. The only problem was... taking down the tent in the rain! First I put everything in my bag and put the rainproof cover on it, and then ran that down to the shelter, so all of that was dry. Then I managed to take the stakes and poles out and let the rain fly flatten on the tent, and then I pulled the tent out from underneath and it stayed dry! I brought that to the shelter. The rain fly was a muddy wet mess, as was the tarp underneath, but I rolled both up and brought them down. My bear bag was just a disaster altogether, but I took it down and brought that in. I squeezed out as much water as I could from everything and packed my bag inside the dry shelter. It was yet again a late start for me, partly because I was sitting in my tent hearing the pouring rain and dreading getting out of the tent. But because I was late, I had the shelter to myself to assemble my wet stuff. A lot of people actually left straight from Rock Gap, but I wanted to walk to the next pickup because I could get those miles out of the way. Two people showed up, smoked weed, and left. There is a lot of weed on the trail in general. Everyone is smoking it every night. There¢s alcohol too, but I have noticed a lot of weed. I finished packing up and walked the four or so miles. I met some other hikers. It wasn¢t too bad hiking in the rain. I was actually too hot in all my rain gear. But I was dry and my pack cover kept my pack dry. It stopped raining halfway into my hike and was just a drizzle/mist at that point. There was one climb today, but it leveled out after and was a nice, flat, winding path down to Winding Stair Gap. My phone was almost dead so I was a little anxious. I called my hostel several times without an answer. Finally, the owner, Zen, picked up and said he could get me, but that he needed to drive someone else quite a distance. I said I¢d be fine coming along because it meant a warm, dry car and eventually a shower/hostel stay. The hiker was Joe and he was slackpacking, so we dropped him off an hour away from Winding Stair Gap and then drove back to Franklin. Because of the detour, I didn¢t get to Franklin until the afternoon, but it worked out. Zen actually miscalculated his bunks and had another person calling about a bunk, so he offered me this other option, that was an Airbnb down the street that his friend owned. I was receptive. It was more expensive, but it meant a big bed, TV, and my own bathroom. Zen drove me there and I met his friend, who was very nice. The Airbnb was super clean and it had a porch, so I dried out my tent on the porch. I took a shower immediately to get warm, but didn¢t really wash until later. I just needed that hot shower. I checked in with everyone, lay out my wet clothes outside, cleaned my bear bag out, washed my stove, charged my electronics, and then headed over to pick up my mail drops and drop off my laundry. When I got there, they were simmering a sauce for pasta and preparing garlic bread. I was pumped. One of my favorite meals! I grabbed some ¢lend clothes¢ and looked quite funny, and then left for a bit and went into town to get a new bear bag and rope. There¢s a great store, Outdoor 76, that sold me new rope and a sturdy, waterproof bag. I was so tempted to buy an ursack because you can just tie those to a tree, but I got the bag and rope because the owner said ursacks didn¢t work very well and the bear can still get the food. They gave me a hiker discount and a free bandana, and I signed the official Class of 2019 banner!I headed back to the hostel and they had dinner ready. Ahhh pasta! I ate so much and the meat sauce was really good. And that garlic bread omg. It was all amazing. I had some salad too haha. Zen brought me my clean laundry. It smelled amazing. Wow it¢s been a while since I¢ve had clean clothes! I brought it back to my Airbnb and organized my food and clothes. I then went back to the hostel to get ready to go on a Walmart trip with everyone. Yay Walmart! This was honestly the biggest Walmart I¢ve ever seen. I got a 50 cent Pepsi outside and was so happy lol. I bought more sunscreen, Sensodyne toothpaste (omg my teeth have been suffering without it, it¢s worth the weight), and mini alcohol bottles for the next few nights. I need propane, but Walmart only had huge things of it so I¢ll wait until the NOC. After I got back I dropped all my stuff off at my Airbnb. It was late, around 9:30ish, but I really wanted to check out this brewery nearby because I want to take advantage of all that the towns have to offer me. I walked to the brewery and got a beer and all of my trail friends were there! They shouted ¢Little Debbie¢ and hugged me and pulled me onto the couch with them. It made me so happy. My people! They were pretty toasted, but I didn¢t mind. We danced to the music in the Lazy Hiker Brewery and told funny jokes and it was just awesome! I left around 11 and walked back to my Airbnb. I planned out the next few weeks because my schedule is a little off. I packed everything up and got into bed to finish planning. I was totally wiped, but I needed to get some planning done. I actually got a lot done overall. I hiked in the morning, walked to the store, did laundry and hung my tent, had dinner with everyone, went to Walmart, and went to the brewery. Overall a successful day! Excited to lie on this memory foam mattress and pass out! Night! Song of the day: ¢You Dance¢ by Eastmountainsouth. It¢s definitely on my list of top 10 favorite songs. You all should take a listen, it¢s a great one!Little Debbie