Date: 2013-10-10
From: Frederick, MD

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.0

Trevor's FB post with photos has been added today, 10/12, and is located below at the end of this postYou never know when you might encounter a trail angel and the trail magic they provide. Here's a trail angel's post on FB:"So... yesterday I was out hiking as I often am, and I passed a few fellow hikers headed South and I asked if they were Sobos...they said yes and I congratulated them and as I came upon the third hiker I yelled out HEY... I know you... I met you in New Hampshire. I recognized Crunchmaster from almost two months ago when he gave me some hiking pointers at the Hikers Welcome Hostel. Which lead me to helping out a few great South Bounders tonight. Congrats Cerveza, Crunchmonster and Milk Run on your four state challenge success, 43 miles in 18 hours and halfway mark!!""Happy hikers play video games These guys have completed 1, 100 miles on the trail...they deserve some game time, some eats and a warm dry place to sleep. Back off on the trail again tomorrow. Congrats guys you are doing great!!""Just dropped the guys back on the AT this morning about 7:30 after an early a.m. wake up at 6. I couldn't be prouder to meet such a great group of young hikers!! Thanks for the advice and stories, you guys are all very inspirational! Keep up the great work, I know it will be a wet, chilly day and you have big plans of 21 Miles, may you stay as dry as possible and have a nice cozy shelter to rest in. Thanks for making my first Trail Angel experience a great one Crunchmaster, Cerveza and Milk Run! It was a pleasure having ya'll (just for you southerners)!! Happy Hiking!!!Question for readers of this journal and Crunchmaster's followers: Should Crunchmaster and his hiking buddies 1) skip Shenandoah National Park and come back later once it opens back up OR 2) Hike right on through? Please register your opinion on the guestbook. By the way, Crunchmaster has already decided, we're just curious on what you think...Now here's Crunchmaster's FB post: [poor connection so still waiting for it to come through...] Posted on 10/12."Milkrun, Cerveza, and I stayed at a trail angel's house last night! It was an amazing place to stay! A big thanks to Heather and her three kids! We actually played xbox with them for awhile. It has been so long since I played that I didn't do good at all. It was still very fun though! Today was just a downright miserable day. It was around 50 degrees all day and a steady rain fell all day. Plus a pretty steady wind blew all day. I actually had to wear my rain pants for the first time on the whole trip. However, I was still pretty chilly whenever I stopped for a break. We got on the trail at 7:30 which is pretty early for us. The rain starting falling very heavy after about 30 minutes. There was no stopping or it would get too cold. We finally stopped for a break at the first shelter about 7 miles in. I sat there and ate a huge meal bar just to give me some energy. We finally got the courage to head out into the rain again. We made it another 3 miles to the Blackburn AT Center and ate lunch there. The caretaker actually warmed up some water for us so we could have some hot tea. We then made the decision to stay at the Bears Den Hostel. The weather was bad and we were cold so we thought we deserved it! When we arrived at the hostel around 6:00 the first thing we did is head for the shower. My feet are looking pretty rough and I really hope I'm not getting trench-foot because that's what it looks like. For supper we enjoyed pizza, mountain dew, and a pint of ice cream. I enjoyed this ice cream more than the half gallon I ate a few days ago! We are watching a movie now before we head to bed. It's so nice to be in a warm hostel instead of freezing in a shelter right now! Hoping for better weather soon..."3 photos of today's hike: