Date: 2011-06-16
From: Sam Moore Shelter

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: broken clouds

A great relaxing short and filled day, two milestones and free dinner. So with no one in the shelter this morning it was easy to wake up and just pack and not have to sneak around worrying about waking everyone up. Woke up at 6 and on the trail at 6:30. Was going to go to Bears Den hostel and get ice cream but it was really just to early. I opted to go to the next road crossing and walk to a restaurant .9 miles away. The road had no one on it and didn't have a single car pass me. Had an omelet with green pepper mushrooms and sausage, homefries, and toast with apple butter. I also stopped at a store and grabbed a DP for the trail. On the way back to the trail as I was passing a store they where running a generator that was very loud. As I am looking at it the only vehicle a truck passes me by without me knowing, so 2.2 mile side trip for breakfast, but it was good and worth it. Back on the trail shortly before finishing the roller coaster I hit the first milestone, I crossed out of Virginia into West Virginia at mile 997. Took a couple pictures and stopped and posted to facebook. Walking again I finished the roller coaster a few miles later and I stopped and took a break and drank my DP. Walking again I started timing my mileage so I would know where 1000 miles was. The only wayoint listed was a mile and half before. Just about where I thought it should be I meet an older couple out dayhiking and asked if there was a 1000 mile marker coming up. They immediately said that was what that sign was for. They asked a bunch of questions but not the normal ones. They where aware of the AT and thru hiking and said they would check and see if I finished in the journal next year. After that I rushed to the marker and got some more pictures. Crazy enough after going through the roller coaster the trail profile is really flat for the next 50 miles. The next few miles to Blackburn AT Center was fast and easy but the climb down off the trail will be tough in the morning going back up. It was early in the day when I got here and I had lunch and took a nap for a bit. The care taker also brought out a coke for me while I was eating. The hostel here is a small cabin, there is also a huge house which says private residence which I believe is rentable or something. The caretaker has a garage type house as well. I wanted to stop here as I had heard they had free dinner most nights and I also wanted to do a short day as my next two I believe will be pretty long. After my nap a bunch of others showed up that I have been hiking with for some time now and off and on before. We sat around wondering if there would be dinner tonight and around 5:30 the caretaker told us there would be. Wohoo, dinner was spaghetti made with vodka sauce, garden tomatoes and fresh basil, along with some rolls with butter and garlic and an orange soda. Dessert was hot brownies. For 8 hikers they made about twenty pounds of spaghetti, it was the biggest bowl I have ever seen. Backing up a bit, before dinner we all sat around and tried to play a game called the vegetable game. The game is hilarious and I couldn't stop crying. You lose if you show your teeth. So you start by picking a vegetable and announce it not showing your teeth while talking. After everyone has a vegetable someone starts by basically doing a radio call sign twice to some other vegetable. Broccoli broccoli to tomato tomato. You sound so stupid you can't help but laugh and that is really hard not showing your teeth, give it a try. While we where doing it a couple of section hikers walked in and where greeted that way and pretty much everyone lost it. After dinner I setup my bed and am actually staying on the screened and covered deck of the main house. The crew here I have been with is Towns who I hiked with through most of the Smokeys. Blackfeet, Smiley, A Game and Shooka who I hiked with for a while after my first shin splint recovery time period. Tomorrow I plan on waking up early and getting to Harpers Ferry and visiting the AT Conservatory and getting my maildrops which include my glasses which Shepherd mailed here. Also have shin spint braces coming to try out. Then I need to get out of town as there are no cheap options to stay in town with hostel costing twice the norm and no cheap hotels/motels. Also have to stop by the outfitter to get a metal spoon to use for the half gallon challenge, my replacement now is a lexan spoon which has been good but is short and hard to use in dehydrated meals and my tall cooking pot. Can't have an accidental breakage when trying to break an ice cream record either. Well got to sleep so I can get up early.