Date: 2017-04-24
From: Deer Lick Shelters

To: Fayetteville
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: light rain

4/24At Trail of Hope Hostel in Fayetteville 13.2 milesI met Grey beard, Ten Steps, and Rocket Man at the hostel. They're a nice bunch of sixtyish men. But first: another chilly night, though I did sleep. Uncle and I shared a shelter, with Nephew and Hand and Mouth in the other. I slept in a bit, then made oatmeal and hot chocolate in bed. Apparently I missed a bag when populating them with coffee. I packed up, then realized that I needed to pack differently so my pack cover would fit. I grumbled and Uncle made fun of me being anal retentive about how my pack is loaded. I flounced off to the privy and noticed when I got back that he was still fiddling with his. I think one of us is projecting a little bit. I got going at the stroke of eight. First I passed Antietam Shelter, then Uncle and Nephew getting water at the nearby park. I fetched up at Tumbling Run to tape my feet, get water, and use their sparkling clean privy. The hill up to Chimney Rocks was beastly. I stopped to breathe frequently. I didn't go see the actual Rocks because it was raining. No view. I took a picture and my screen went black. I had to do a hard reset to use it again. I sent email to JD about it and the phone crashed again. I couldn't tell if the mail actually went out. I left it off, and wandered on, pondering. I use the phone extensively - not least of which to write and upload this journal. So when it has problems, it's a big deal to me. Makes me anxious. This is compounded by the lack of phone podcasts, music, and books to take my mind off of things. It's a bit of a vicious circle. I was forced to listen to my own internal litany all day. I stopped to filter my water and the filter leaked badly, losing a quarter of a liter. I really needed that liter. I hadn't noted before leaving Tumbling Run that the water at the next shelter was a 1.6 mile round trip. I skipped it in favor of the last three miles to town. First, though, I changed the gasket on my filter and it was back to working again. Annoying. But I'm glad I had the spare. The scenery right before and after Rocky Mountain Shelters was outstanding. Towering rock walls with evergreens below. I wanted to take pictures, but see above about phone problems. I remembered rock scrambling from my last hike there, but I didn't remember just how much of it there was. I was ready for it to end way before it did. However, after one scramble I realized that while I was navigating the rocks, I wasn't thinking about anything. So that was nice. When I reached Route 30 I turned left and headed for the restaurant, which turned out not to be a pizza joint anymore. They were extremely welcoming and helpful - showing me where to charge the phone, getting the number of the fellow who could give me a ride to the hostel, and just really being very nice. Hikers are often viewed with suspicion so this was very pleasant. At the hostel I got a shower and finalized some arrangements with JD, who has a solution to my phone problem, we think. He will drive up tomorrow and I'll take an impromptu zero day. I hear it's good timing - the weather will be bad tomorrow. Neon is also driving down tomorrow so we'll hit the trail Wednesday. Maybe she'll bring good weather with her?