Date: 2019-06-01
From: Lickskillet Hostel

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 20.6

Mongo was leaving for a little section hike today, so he said he could drop our bags off 20 miles ahead at Woods Hole Hostel on his way and we could slackpack up. I was very thankful for this and had heard that he slackpacks, so I was glad it worked out! Hobo and Tinkerbell joined me and we prepped our bags and called Woods Hole to make a reservation. We sat for a bit and hung out. A man came by with a small white birdhouse that he made. It was meant to be the hostel and it had a little bear hanging out the window. It was fine craftsmanship and made completely out of wood. We gave Mongo our packs and he drove us all to the trailhead. It was hot and I was not feeling like hiking today, but at least I was slackpacking! We hiked together for a bit, but I took a break on the uphill to eat. I hadn¢t had anything to eat yet, mostly out of laziness to not want to get my stove out and cook oatmeal, so I had a ProBar for breakfast and that did the trick! I had put Nuun tablets in my water as well. These things really work. They totally hydrate you in addition to your water, so even if you¢ve had just a liter over a few miles, you feel hydrated. The uphills were hard and annoying today and I was getting tired fast. We knew we were going to pass Dismal Falls and Trent¢s Grocery, and Hobo had said he¢d get us beers from Trent¢s Grocery to have at the Falls. That was so nice of him. He hiked on ahead to do that, and I caught up to Tinkerbell and hiked with her for a bit. We went rather slow and Peter Pan was the best. He kept looking back at me, almost to say ¢you coming?¢ Gah I love dogs. YES IM COMING AND IM FOLLOWING YOU TO MAINE YOU ADORABLE FLUFFY DOGGO. He took a little poo right beside the trail and I¢m afraid I pressured him by still hiking. Haha. We arrived at the Falls. It was a side trail to them, and it felt a little long. They were not the best I¢ve seen haha so the name Dismal was somewhat fitting. But they had a nice swimming area and it looked refreshing. The water was very cold though. I put my feet in slowly, but it was almost so cold it hurt. Hobo showed up with beers! There were a fair amount of people there doing the same thing. I found out later some had yellow blazed from Trent¢s Grocery. I think more people yellow blaze out here than I realize. I saw Birdman, Shake and the two girls, and Cucumber and Crypter from last night, as well as some other folks. We sat for a while and talked. I had my feet in the water and was drinking my beer. The rocks under the water were so slippery I was sure I was going down and the beer was coming with me. That¢s the only way to get me in the water lol if I slip! I¢m such a chicken.But this chicken was getting hot. I was feeling the sunburn and the heat and the beer! Tinkerbell decided she¢d go in, so I decided to too. I walked down to the bigger swimming hole with her and she jumped right in. I slowly walked in, which is dumb because the water only feels more and more cold as you do that, so eventually I yelped and dunked my whole body. It felt so good. I was so glad I did it. Tinkerbell too a picture of me and slipped all the way out of the water, climbing back up. I sat for a bit to dry off and had a snack, but I didn¢t pack enough food in my day pack, so I was hungry. After we dried off a bit, Hobo decided to head on and we were a few minutes behind him. I was just hiking in my boxers, but put my shirt on to prevent chafing and more sunburn. We passed by 25-Mile here; I think she must have zero¢d. Tinkerbell and I headed out the side trail together, but then I headed in front of her. I was definitely feeling the buzz from the beer haha. I¢ve never hiked buzzed, so this was interesting. The miles seemed to fly and I wasn¢t bothered by the heat or rocks or things like that as much. I was a bit annoyed though because this whole group of ¢ultralight¢ 20-milers PASSED ME. I was slackpacking, and they still passed me and were on my tail for a bit. They were hiking as fast as me and doing the same mileage with packs. I¢m sorry but just UGH. Really?! This is the crap that makes me feel like I¢m not good enough out here. I let them pass and hiked on, catching up to them occasionally, but hiking behind them. Hobo and I found each other and hiked together for a bit. I stopped for water and a bathroom break and found the 20-Milers. I don¢t remember their names, but there was a man named Shine. Tinkerbell caught up and then Hobo and I headed out while she took a quick break too. We had a bit of a climb coming up. Hobo and I talked for a bit and then I told him to go ahead because I was feeling poopy. I was definitely coming off of that buzz from the beer and I was starting to get tired. It was so steep too. I stopped for more water and the fasties passed me, one of them even laughing at me as I tried to scoop up the water at this small source. He said ¢how¢s that working for you?¢ I could¢ve exploded. Do you really need me to feel ten times worse right now? Just let me be. He left and I continued climbing. Tinkerbell passed, but we played leapfrog for a bit. We arrived at a view! An actual view! It was very pretty and we took it in for a bit. We hiked with one of the fasties, a woman who¢s name I can¢t remember, and then we all arrived at the top. There was a side trail to the view, but I was tired and it was getting late. Hobo had found some tent poles and brought them with him to the hostel. The fasties led the way and we followed them. They were nice, but intimidating. The woman went to school and studied the environment, so she knew a lot about the plants we passed. At one point she got her  hiking pole stuck in between some rocks and got behind us. It felt long to do those last few miles. It was the classic ¢mostly downhill¢ of the AT, but it had some little ups too. We finally arrived at the road. We were surprised to see several people from the Falls who had gotten there before us, but we had never seen them pass us. Later we discovered that there was a blue blaze trail and they had taken it. I think a lot more people than I realize do that. The hostel was .5 off trail, so a bit of a pain to get to. But we were pretty much done for the day and it felt good to have slackpacked and done those miles, even though people did them with packs on. We got to the hostel and the owners were away, but there were a few staff members who checked us in. Hobo and I got a room upstairs with three twin beds, and Tinkerbell was going to join us, but they were charging her ridiculous prices for her dog and she decided to tent. Overall I thought the hostel was pricey and a little unfriendly, but it was clean and had a cool vibe to it. Hobo and I ordered a milkshake to share and then snacked on our food bags for dinner. We each took showers and then relaxed and went to bed. Only 13 miles to go to Pearisburg tomorrow!Little Debbie