Date: 2018-08-02
From: Kinsman Notch/ Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Kinsman Notch/ Hikers Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

We both woke up about 6:30am and snuck downstairs (because others were still asleep) and got our morning coffee. It had rained most of the night and was still dripping when we got up. Today is a "Zero Day" for us meaning we have no plans to hike any miles of the AT. We try to work in a day of rest each week so the muscles and joints get a day off, equipment gets repaired and we connect with family and friends.The last of the people we have met at the hostel over the last couple of days left this morning and a new set has started coming in. All of a sudden we are the experts in explaining how things work around here when the caretakers are not available.As mentioned earlier, this hostel format is as a bunkhouse. There is a second floor bunk area in the main building and a separate building called the "Barn" that has a first and second floor of bunks. There is a common area in the main building with a refrigerator containing food and drinks for purchase, a TV with a huge DVD collection and a computer to access the internet. There are also outside picnic tables under a cover to sit at. Lastly there is an outdoor shower, sink, washer, dryer and toilet all under a cover...and that is today's picture. Everything is on the honor system. If you get a soda from the fridge, you mark it on your individual sign-up sheet. When you head back to the trail, you use the data on your sign-up sheet to establish your bill. The system seems to work!One of the services the hostel offers is to mail USPS boxes for hikers. Some mail food and equipment ahead to their next stop, while others mail stuff home. We are doing the latter. We have established that we each brought things we haven't used and are likely not to use or have duplicated something that only one of us needs to carry. So a box of "stuff" is going home, satisfying our quest to get our packs ever lighter.Our Zero Day is also a time to assess how are bodies are doing so far. Everyone is asking about Spider's "new" artificial knee and his other "good" knee with the mega-brace. The answer is "Great...so far". He got periodic pain in the "good" knee when he stepped wrong, but has learned to avoid that now for the most part. His "new" knee has not given him any pain. The biggest issue for both knees is range of motion. Big steps up or down are more limited with the brace and with the artificial knee. So Spider is always looking for routes down the trail with steps no more than 1 ft high. Sometimes that means zig-zagging down the trail.So far Spider's toe sleeves have prevented any blisters from forming.ET is doing great. She has had one knee complain especially after long downhills. But she's always good-to-go the next day. Her left hamstring is bothering her today after yesterday's workout. But it's nothing Ibuprofen won't fix. She also has had no foot blisters. So we can say we are in pretty good shape to head out on week 2 of our AT adventure.We have been watching the weather and it looks like another storm is coming in tonight and will last for a couple of days. That's unfortunate timing since today will be a mostly dry day and would have been a good hiking day. That is why we carry raingear!The hostel has no cell service, but does have WiFi. So we used ET's iPhone to FaceTime with Carol and BJ, JT and family, and Zak and family. We had burgers again at the Roadside Grill and made it to bed by 10:00pm.