Date: 2003-07-02
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: light rain

7/2 Rod Hollow Shelter to Bears Den Hostel - 9.9 milesToday I hiked with Pushing Up Daisies. We did 10 miles of the 13.5 mile stretch known as the Roller Coaster. This section got that name because it goes up and down 10 peaks within that 13.5 miles. The reason is because the land that the AT acquired there is so narrow that they have no choice but to bring us up every single one. It was a strange day too. Misty and drizzely, hot and humid, yet when I stopped for lunch I was chilled.Before lunch we ran into a few of the girls we met the night before at the Rod Hollow Shelter. One of the girls was laying in the middle of the trail making a really strange repetitive noise. The counselors said she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to hike anymore. We did ask if there was anything we could do to help and they said no, that she was just throwing a fit. We continued onto the next shelter and ate lunch.4 miles later we were at the Bears Den Hostel. This place was awesome. It is an old stone building that Steve Appel (resident volunteer) had the vision and ability to turn into a hostel. The work they did on the place is amazing. Upstairs has 2 bunk rooms, a dining area, living room complete with a piano and a kitchen. Downstairs is a hiker hostel geared to AT hikers complete with a fridge and sodas. It felt great to shower and down some grape soda.The manager Dave asked us if we were interested in joining them for a turkey dinner. That was a nice surprise. The managers, Steve and his wife, Riley's owners (I feel so bad I can't remember their names), Pushing Up Daisy's, Vincent (he's 12) and his Dad, and myself all sat down to a great dinner. They supplemented it with grilled cheese sandwiches just so there was enough food for everyone. Right when we were finishing up I saw No Pepsi walk by. Soon after him The Dude, Aftershock, Widget and Ted show up. That is when I found out that girl we passed who was laying on the trail had died. When Widget got to the scene she had little if any pulse so he and a counselor did CPR until the paramedics showed up. Apparently they tried everything they could think of and nothing was bringing her back. They pronounced her dead there on the trail. Ted's sleeping bag ended up being used as a body bag, so now he doesn't have one. Aftershock did a lot of running. He carried packs to the shelter, helped the medics with equipment, etc etc. Widget said he saw the group of girls again on his way to dinner. Turns out the volunteer fire company cooked dinner and had it waiting for them by their van and the members of the fire company were going to take the girls to their homes and put them up for the night. That was a really nice gesture.It was very hard to think about this situation. I know myself and Pushing Up Daisies felt aweful as we were there almost 2 hours before Widget and we could have run for help, or helped carry her or make her more comfortable, or something. But we figured the counselors knew the girl, her behavior, medical conditions, etc. and hopefully were trained to be taking a group out on the AT. Just a really sad situation.Later on Sarah, Crow Dog and Prarie Chicken showed up too. It was fun hanging out with everyone and Widget even played the piano for us.