Date: 2008-06-18
From: 1 mile north of Washington Monument, MD

To: Free State Hostel, Wolfsville Rd., Smithsburg, MD
Miles today: 10.5

I woke up at 6am after another great night's sleep. I wasn't in any hurry because I still had to write yesterday's journal. I spent the last of the daylight yesterday sending in a bunch of pictures, and I knew it was going to be a loooong journal entry, so I decided to wait till this morning to write it and send it in. I bought four bakery donuts at the grocery store yesterday...and that's what was on my mind first! :-) Those were good, but went down too fast. I started writing my journal and sending it in. It was 8am before I was done. Poor Mrs Gorp really has lots of work to keep my journal going and she sent me a text saying she was wasting precious shopping time just so she could get yesterday's entry up. Thank you Mrs Gorp!!! You are a real saint. :-) It's a beautiful morning...about 50 degrees, I see the sun shining and it's breezy out. Perfect for this time of year. One thing I did forget to write about in yesterday's journal was when I was in the tent for the night and it was still a little light out, I watched a doe and fawn walk about 35 yards from my tent and they never saw me. I just laid there and watched them walk by. The little fawn sure wouldn't let momma get very far ahead. :-) I finally got packed up and was walking by 8:20am. I wasn't quite out to the Trail yet when I saw Southpaw walking by. I had slept about 200 feet from the Trail and he never saw me as I was walking towards him through the woods. We walked together talking for about 30 minutes. I crossed the footbridge over US 70 in about two miles. I was surprised at how noisy it was with all the fast moving traffic. It was nice as I got farther back into the woods and away from all that noise. There are homes in that area....I could never live somewhere like that! I passed by the sidetrail to Pine Knob Shelter without stopping. I finished climbing to the summit of Pine Knob, then when I got to the sidetrail to Annapolis Rocks, I took it. It was a quarter mile to the rocks. When I got there, I had to put my rain jacket on because the wind was gusting so strong that it felt cool out. I sat there after taking a few pictures and ate some tuna and Fritos, diced peaches and some M&M's. I left after about 20 minutes and was surprised to see Southpaw sitting on the other end of the rocks. I never heard him come up because of all the wind blowing through. I thought it was Christmas time about a mile north of Annapolis Rocks. A southbound day hiker came walking by with bells on. I nodded and kept walking. :-) I walked by Pogo Campsite, then made a slight climb for a few miles. There were sections with LOTS of rocks to walk over. I knew today was going to be a short day because I planned on stopping by Bonepac's hostel called The Free State Hostel. I got to Wolfsville Road and walked the third mile to his place. Signs directed me, I went in and no one was there. I walked in and made myself at home. He and his wife have really made this into a nice hostel. It has a refrigerator stocked with sodas and ice cream, washer and dryer, internet....fast internet, a nice shower and lots of bunks. I spent the afternoon getting my stuff in order, washing my clothes and my body, paying a few bills online and writing most of today's journal before anyone showed up.Jennel came up and we got to talk a while, then two nobo hikers by the names of Me and Leaping Turtle came walking in from the rain. I was checking something out on the computer and Bone Pac snuck up behind me. It was great seeing him again! I got Bone Pac and Jennel's picture before he had to leave again for a meeting. Their three children came upstairs and I got to meet Mac, Megan and Mike. Hey Bone Pac and Jennel...you two have put together one of the nicest hostels along the entire AT!   Thanks!! :-) I ordered lots of food for delivery from a nearby Mexican/Italian place. I got my spaghetti AND my fried chicken!! :-) This is one of the places along the AT that I will always stop at when I walk by and highly recommend it to any other hikers walking through the area. Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)