Date: 2012-05-25
From: Dismal Falls

To: Woods Hole Hostel
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

I woke up this morning and collected my food bag from the tree in which I had hung it in. I gave the line a tug in the misty morning darkness and had this premonition that it was going to get stuck. Usually you can just pull the line down without a hitch. Every once in awhile though, you know it will be a tricky one. I usually untie the figure-eight on one side and pull that end through so there isn't anything to get caught up or snag. Today I got lazy. My tug sent the line and attached (rock-less) stuff sack into a broken joint in the branch where it got stuck. Two big pulls and I gave up. I would get it later. I hopped back into the hammock invited by the residual warmth of my cozy sleeping bag nest. The alarm went off at 5:30am and PMo was up and moving around. PMo slept in the other hammock last night and Anna slept with Baxter in the tent. Baxter isn't very good at sharing space and gave Anna quite the battle last night. Anna was thus slow to get moving this morning too. We were hiking by 7:30am but accompanied by a mysterious ocarinist playing Amazing Grace somewhere off in the distance hidden by maple trees and a cool low-hanging mist. We were soon walking though and old fire-scarred grove of conifers that had mountain laurel taking over the forest floor. It was as if the hillside were in transition and there was a slow war being fought for water and light. We hiked up along a meandering river and crossed over the many foot bridges built by unknown sawyers. There was water everywhere in this low, flat area. We came to an underused gravel road and ate a second breakfast along the side while sitting on our packs. Baxter stood as he hates the ground. The morning was still cool but changing quickly at this point. We took off and I fell behind taking photos. My body let me know that this would be a good time for a trowel but the flat open terrain and proximity to water made this tricky. I wandered way off trail. Finished up, I was startled at how close I was to two hikers sitting on a hillside. The trail curved around back on itself and me as it made its way north. Animal and Gravy were watching the morning heat up from the shade in the trees and offering an unwelcome warning about the upcoming terrain. Hot it was and there was a big up to deal with. I didn't need someone telling me how my afternoon was going to be. I bid them farewell and got to climbing. In my delirium, I somehow missed the next shelter. I was supposed to be at the start of the big climb and I remember seeing a an odd side trail but I failed to see any signage. I wondered where it went but didn't investigate. The fact I never saw the shelter played tricks in my mind as I tried to figure out how close I was to the top of this thing. I assumed that the girls and Baxter stopped there for lunch and I went slower to compensate after I figured that I must have missed it. I even took another side trail way up to these radio towers. I had 3G so I did some gear research and cut out of there when the bugs became too much to handle. I eventually found the girls, Baxter, and this super nice fellow named Amish at a road crossing way down the hill. Baxter barked at me like he didn't know who I was. The really odd thing was that I had some fairly negative thoughts running through my head at the time. I made me wonder if animals are more in tune with that sort of energy. Baxter chooses to bark at lots of folks and it is seemingly inconsistent about it. But perhaps he is just sensing something different. I barked back at him and he seemed confused with my mockery but was undeterred until my heart softened up a little. The five of us high-tailed it down to the gap where a half-mile gravel road walk would take us down to a hostel. A hostel that has smoothies and daily yoga! This is sort of rare. And exciting. The hostel had been in operation when PMo passed through in 2002 but had since been taken over by the original owner's granddaughter, Nevel and her husband Michael. I was excited to see this place. At the top of the hill, we found a box of trash. It was all hiker trash. Someone left this here on purpose. They even tore off their shipping label to try and remain anonymous. Amish and I walked it down to the hostel. We walked up a grassy lawn in the sunshine to the main house and found two women up on the porch in rocking chairs folding linens. I made eye contact with the woman on the left and said hello. She smiled and we looked into each others eyes for many seconds longer than a normal exchange would have lasted. I have this experience with very few people. It is as if you known them for a very, very long time. It feels as if your souls are unconsciously "catching up" in that silent conversation of the eyes and energy. We didn't seem to need to introduce ourselves. As the girls showed up, we broke our silence and got down to the business of staying at the hostel. Baxter introduced himself to the other farm dogs. The property was beautiful and we fell into their system of communal living easily. After setting up hammocks and tents in the camping area, we built a fire out in the sunken pit between the main house and the bunk house to help cut down the bugs and add a little warmth to the cooling evening. There was a pig run from one side of the farm to another and we were suddenly accosted by more than a dozen pigs. This was a shock to Baxter as he didn't even know what these animals were. He was surprised but well-behaved and made new piggy friends quickly, especially with one pig in particular. Dinner was pizza, which was baked inside their wood-burning outdoor oven. The smells of pizza can be intoxicating. Before dinner, everyone got together and held hands in a big ring of thanks. The process was simple: after a moment of closed-eye silence, one person stated who they were, where they were from, and what they were thankful for. You then went around the circle until you now knew who everybody was. It was nice to know your fellow guests in such a basic but powerful way. Dessert was rootbeer floats with Virgil's and Amish-made ice cream. The moon was a gorgeous sight and the stars were brilliant against the dark sky. The frogs sung us to sleep.