Date: 2013-08-19
From: About Half Mile Before Galehead Hut

To: Zealand Falls Hut, WMNF
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Stayed around Little Haystacks last night. A strategic location as we were only about half a mile from Galehead Hut. These Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC)Huts charge $80 per person per night. That includes dinner and breakfast but it is still out of reach for most of us thru hikers. We got up at 6:15 am so that we could try to get more miles in but also so we could beeline to Galehead in a scramble to Yogi any leftover breakfast. The hut is quite large, rustic and environmentally responsible. It is solar and wind powered with a large wind turbine on the top. When I asked to plug in the phone the worker said he had to check their power first. Power was up so I luckily could charge a bit. There was a huge pile of cold pancakes and an even larger bowl of cold unsweetened oatmeal. Both never tasted so good! They give the hikers any leftovers for FREE! On a first come first serve basis after the paying guest have had their fill. We got out our peanut butter and Nutella and went to work devouring the pile. Happily lots of hikers that we know and adore showed up: Clevergirl, Dumptruck, Whistle Ralph, Grimm, Carpenter, Sunshine, Leaks and later Sunshine's dad Gerry Rigged. It was like a family sit down. Cub asked the man in the desert riddle which Clevergirl quickly got (duh, her name!). Cub was thrilled because she thinks Clevergirl is awesome and funny. Then Whistle discussed her propensity for vomiting which, as a 12 yr old, Cub found fascinating and hilarious. Hands down Whistle has the best vomit stories. So after breakfast, as we were packing to go Carpenter told us he was born in Tampa. Here's the conversation:Me: At St. Joes?C: yeahMe: I work thereC: where do you live?Me: Do you know Lake Magdalene?C: I went to Lk Mag ElementaryMe: Me too! A bizillion yrs before you!C:I grew up in CarrollwoodMe: where? My husband lived on Samara DrC: My grandparents lived on that roadOkay so now I was getting excited and really looking at his face. I knew I had to know his family. Me: Who are they?C: The FriendsMe: (rushing towards the surprised kid and screaming like a crazy woman)I KNOW THEM!!! I swam at CHS with the girls C: Carol is my mom So I almost jumped up and down with joy!! I swam with Carol. She is the Friend that is my age. Blueberry, my husband, has known them all his life. They worked for his dad at our family business! We had hiked with Carpenter a couple of days and here he was a strong connection to home. He immediately called his mom and we had an excited, happy talk. It made my day and super energized me. How cool is that? 2 degrees of separation from an 50 yr old hiker to a 20 something hiker. Too fun! This trail throws the most amazing experiences our way. We hiked hard all day. Lots and lots of rocks, mud, boulders, etc. but treats of spectacular views. We again climbed mts and got above the tree lines. WMNF has the largest expanse of alpine area in the USA east of the Rockies. We made our first trail direction mistake in 86 days. It was a bummer because we crossed a high winds area that nearly blew us away. We had to fight to stay upright and on the path. In fact I did fall crossing a rocky area when a gust blew me over. Just got a shin scrape. We went about a mile down this windy, steep path only to see a blue blaze and realize we were no longer on the AT. We then had to climb back up. We didn't get too bothered about it...it's bound to happen. We really are working hard walking up and down, though climbing is a more realistic word than walking. If I was at the YMCA I would have probably lasted 30 minutes on the stair stepper and here I am now jarringly stair stepping for hours and hours! It's frustrating not to be able to make the miles but we are just going to have to make it up in Maine. It's too beautiful and too dangerous to rush it. That being said, we got to the(AMC) Zealand Hut by 4 pm. It's set next to a waterfall cascading down a huge boulder. We saw parts of it coming in. Lovely. So I'm proud of Badonkadonk. She arranged a "work for stay" for us at the hut tonight. In exchange for working about 2 hours we get free dinner, breakfast and a place to sleep. (The place to sleep is the floor but it's indoors and no tent set up!!!yeah!!!). We are so excited because the food smells so good! Moroccan lentil soup, salad and crusty bread plus a dessert. What a fun experience to add to our plethora of unique experiences. Let you know how it goes tomorrow. So excited!!!!