Date: 2014-05-12
From: a spring

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: scattered clouds

AT day 38 MondayThis morning started off rough with some bad news from home. Hiking and crying is very hard to do by the way. But things will get worked out and will be ok, I'm sure. Or at least hoping for the best possible outcome from a bad situation. It's just very hard to deal with stuff at home when in the middle of the woods. And we have to walk and deal with things or we'd be stuck in the middle of the woods forever. So we walked. Today was supposed to be "easier than yesterday", but no day out here is easy. Ever. We had some pretty steep ups and downs and lots if rolling hills in between. Overall, it wasn't the toughest of days hiking wise. Just an emotional roller coaster. It was a pretty day and we switched up hiking partners throughout so everyone got a chance to talk. It was nice. Dave had been reading our journal so I asked him if I even came close to accurately describing what's it's like to do this. He said no. But that it's pretty tough to describe for those who haven't come out to do it. Maybe I'll try harder. but in the end, hiking is only part of our day. Jon says it's the part we do to get to the fun stuff. I agree. At one point there was a sign on a tree advertising trail magic from a local church. We were hesitant to believe that there really was any magic, but were happily surprised to find a cooler with Pepsi and a few snacks! We sat on a big tree and enjoyed our treats before moving on. Very shortly we crossed a road and came to the only place on the AT that's handicap accessible. It was really cool! The trail was surrounded by green meadows, rolling hills and felt like we were walking on the yellow brick road from Wizard of Oz! At the crest of the hill, we were greeted by a bunch of people who were all hanging around the trail announcing us. At first I was so confused. Why would they be yelling, "hikers" on a hiking trail? Then we saw a few tents set up and people ran up to us to help take our packs off. They immediately handed us beverages and welcomed us to the Riff Raff party area. They are a big group of past hikers that come out for Trail Days. They had some snacks, including cupcakes (just what I needed)! They told us to have a seat and enjoy. It was awesome! There were lots of hikers we hadn't seen in a while, so we hung out for a bit and caught up. One couple who we had camped with a few days ago told us they found a hostel in Damascus that still had some room this week (trail days is going on so we figured everything would be full). We still had a little phone battery left and were able to call to make reservations. It will be nice to have a dry place to stay with a shower!We decided to push on to a shelter for the night. When we got here, it was empty! That's a first for us. Dave and I decided to sleep in it. Kent set up his tent and Jon is sleeping on the picnic table. There was a nice piped spring, so we all got trail baths which we desperately needed. While we were eating, Kinetic and Medic came in. They were happy to see a calm shelter too and also decided to stay. Dave wasn't able to get more supplies in town so we were all offering him food. It was hilarious because Kent, and his wit, told Dave he could have some of his food but to keep his hands off his honey buns!We had made a fire but the wood was burning super smoky so no one could really enjoy it while eating dinner. It was just a game of moving around to where there was no smoke. All of our eyes were watering. It was funny and painful all at the same time. If you went behind the shelter it actually looked like it was on fire!After a while we all headed to bed. Hikers generally go to bed pretty early by normal standards. Mostly because there's nothing to do after the sun goes down. And partly because we are tired. Not too long after a few more hikers showed up. Then a couple more came. We squeezed together to make as much room as possible. Now I know why Jon sleeps on picnic tables! We can hear the nice running overhead. I'm sure we'll feel them running over us soon. The joys of shelter sleeping!On that note, I think I'll try to sleep now, hopefully before the snoring starts. Goodnight