Date: 2019-05-27
From: Long Neck Lair Hostel

To: Bear Garden Hostel
Miles today: 12.8

Slackpack! I headed out late this morning, as I wanted to do laundry before I left and without taking a zero, it¢s hard to get some of the chores done. Caboose and her daughter left earlier, slackpacking as well. The hostel owner was very sweet and drove me down to the trailhead. She picked up Birdman and dropped him off too, and we hiked together for a bit. He¢s got a great story for why he¢s out here. He was doing a section hike with his mom around Hot Springs I believe and he met a ton of thru-hikers and just decided to stay on trail. So he¢s hiked from there with whatever gear he had, switching some of it out as he went. He¢s a really cool guy and we had a nice time hiking together. He¢s carrying this brick that Danran gave him because they¢re both part of Riff-Raff. I¢ve heard bad things about that group, but both of these guys are awesome. I guess it¢s initiation, but the brick gets passed on to different new members and they see who can get it to Maine. It¢s actually a brick, it¢s 6 pounds. There¢s no way in hell I¢d ever carry a brick in my pack. It¢s heavy enough thanks! Lol. Unfortunately, Danran quit today and I had to say goodbye to him. He had friends taking care of his dog back home and they were moving, so he had to go home to be with his dog. He was really upset about it. I¢m glad I don¢t have any obligations like that at home that could end my trip, although I do want a dog and to move out and settle somewhere after I save some more money. Birdman and I passed a memorial for Stronghold a few miles in. It wasn¢t in the spot where it happened, although we were only a few miles from that. We hiked together up a few steep hills and I was starting to slow down. It was another hot day and I was getting tired fast. I again did not bring enough water and was drinking through it fast. We passed by the quarter of the way to Maine mark and took pictures. It was so exciting!! I love these little milestones. We stopped for a break on the top of one of the steep climbs. I let him go ahead and decided to go slower for a bit. I felt slow and dehydrated all day, but was glad I had no pack. I passed through a lot of meadows today, and although they were pretty, they were without shade and hot. Heat will really get to me more than cold. I was certainly uncomfortable and cold at the beginning of my trip, but I¢d take those days any day over this heat. I did pass by the campsite that the cops had pointed out in AWOL as the spot Stronghold was killed. I stopped for a bit and saw Tsalagi. He said he had lit some sage at the memorial before and was going to tonight at this campsite. It didn¢t feel eerie like you¢d think. There¢s a picture in the newspaper that makes it look dark and scary. It¢s actually a really nice campsite by the water. It looked like people had stayed here recently. There were bear lines abandoned on the trees, although I doubt those were from the night of the incident. Some section-hikers came through and decided to camp, despite knowing. I wouldn¢t have wanted to camp there even though it was a nice spot and the danger was completely gone. I heard the girl who survived has left the trail and gone home, but now I was able to understand that 6-mile walk she had to make while injured, because I walked through it. I can¢t imagine. There were lots of campsites near the actual one, and I heard that there were folks in a tent nearby and Sovereign stared at their tent as they stayed still until cops arrived. I could understand how people nearby may have heard screaming, but not seen what happened. With the layout of it all, it made sense. I was glad to have passed through and taken my time here to remember Stronghold and take it in. I arrived at the hostel I was going to stay in, where my pack was dropped. I hadn¢t planned on two hostel stays, but I got a free slackpack, so it evens out. The woman was incredibly friendly and it was a nice quiet place. Caboose, her daughter, Birdman, and I were the only guests for the night. I immediately went for the water and then she showed me the shower stuff and I decided I¢d shower too. She had frozen pizzas in the fridge so I went for one of those too and a soda. Two showers and town food for several days, I¢ll take it! We hung out with the owners for a while and headed to bed. We had discussed slackpacking with them, but they only offered a 26-mile slackpack deal. I could¢ve done it, but Caboose was worried she and her daughter wouldn¢t be able to. I had already slackpacked, but Caboose was the one asking this time. She was worried because she and her daughter were headed to McAfee Knob and the other awesome Virginia sites, but weren¢t sure they¢d make it in good time to get all the way to DC, where Linda¢s flight back to Sweden would be. They were thinking of yellow-blazing and Caboose would just make up the miles later. We all decided not to slackpack again, but tomorrow was going to be hard because we had a few small steep climbs, and one 5-mile climb. I set my sites on a short distance again simply because of all that climbing and having a full pack out of town. But I was frustrated that I¢m still not doing 15s. It¢s bothering me, but I have to remind myself that I¢m still going every day. Denver quit from this hostel and I found out today, as the hostel owner said that she had left all her food here. So the entire trail family of Hot Sauce, Denver, and Prometheus is gone. Being surrounded by the quitting is sad and hard for me, but I support everyone in their decisions. I am still here. I¢ll get to Maine, whether it¢s 10 miles a day or 30. But hopefully soon I can kick some more out. Slackpacking definitely makes me happy and I¢ll treat myself to it as a way to make up those miles. Someone did the math and said you can make it by October 1st if you do 13-mile days the rest of the way. I don¢t want to finish that late, so if I did 15-miles a day, hopefully I could finish in mid-September. I¢m enjoying my hike now and think that¢s more important than anything else. I need to make sure I¢m enjoying it, because it¢s a long way still to Maine. And I won¢t regret the zeros or the low-mileage days when I¢m done, I¢ll regret the days I pushed myself so hard I hated the trail. Yes I¢ll still have really bad days, it¢s part of the trail, but listening to myself and my needs out here is important. Slow and steady wins the race? It¢s not a race though. It¢s a journey and I¢ve already proved to myself what I¢m capable of. I did that 17 the other day by myself. But I still felt wiped even doing low-mileage on other days. We¢ll see what happens, but tomorrow is low-mileage uphill and I hope it¢s not too hot! Little Debbie