Date: 2014-05-15
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Blackburn AT Center
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Up and at em! For a marathon day I feel great. And I'm ready to go as only two more days until Harpers. Also finally we've got consistent cell service. It's been a struggle for a while and a goal was really to not rely on this phone so much but it sure is nice just to do a quick email and text check to make sure everything is all right. You can't really chat on the phone or surf as it wears your battery down so fast but the peace of mind is important - especially when I worry about something going wrong with my house. Of note - the forecast is for storms this afternoon and then heavy, consistent rain over night. Great. Wet again. Hope I can make it to shelter before it hits. The hike this morning starts almost immediately with "The Rollercoaster". This is 13.5 miles of tightly packed ascents and descents. If you have the AWOL look at around mile 996. But really pffft. This is nothing compared to the past. I just took it in full force. Seriously the first two thirds seemed like nothing. Lame. They even had a sign warning you about it. The only thing of note was that I swallowed a bug that tasted remarkably like coconut! Wish I knew what it was. But then I'm not sure what happened. I completely lost steam and it became a huge struggle. Once I made it to the Bears Den hostel I just wanted to quit for the day. But if I did it would make tomorrow's hike into Harpers really long and I love to get in early when I know I'm staying. So much to do. Quick check of weather and they keep moving the rain start time later so onward. Crossed over a horribly marked highway at Snickers Gap and then realized a huge milestone was right ahead - 1000 miles. 1000 miles?!! Never thought I'd do that. What a journey. Ended the hike up on a ridge and started getting nervous with darkening skies. But hurray there's the sign for the hostel - this is an ATC run hostel that is donation based and kind of a classic on the trail. .2 miles down the ridge and there! Amazing place. There's a big old farmhouse type building with a huge wrap around screened porch on three sides. And up the hill is a small bunkhouse for hikers. Headed to the bunkhouse to find it empty. Had four hiker platforms just like a shelter but enclosed with a fireplace and a porch out front with rocking chairs and a pavilion. Still with the privy but nice that I'll be sheltered from the rain. Went down to the farmhouse to check in and was greeted by the caretakers - Caroline and Chris. Awesome awesome people. They offered me a Rice Krispie cookie and soda and let me check out the log. That porch was so awesome and had a couch, lounge, big chairs and a porch swing. Caroline invited me to stay on the porch if I wanted. Said its nice in the rain and dry. I was ALL OVER that couch so I snagged it. A very sleek mid century modern thing you might see in an office on Mad Men. Not the most comfortable but it's a couch! Went down for a quick rinse off in the solar shower and got all my things on the porch when an enormous roar started heading up the mountain side. We all stopped to look and it was the predicted storm moving in. The rain was making the noise and it just hit. Normally you get a few warning drops but this was just the sky unleashing and flashes and bams! Exciting but worried for my friends still up on the ridge. It was a good half hour and thought maybe they saw the radar and decided to stop at Bears Den Hostel back in the Rollercoaster; but, soon I saw Mariposa get to the bunkhouse and I called her down to the porch. Poor thing she was drenched again. I can't tell you how much everything stinks!! (Not Mariposa!) socks and shoes are rank! And shirts and shorts smelly musty and b.o.-y Too bad any drying she accomplished today was demolished. She checked in and Caroline offered her hot chocolate to warm her up. Telling you these two are great. She went inside and chatted for a while. Then Goliath and and Handsome Dan arrived and got their hot chocolate too. I heard if there's four or more they might make you dinner so we all hoped! You never want to assume anything. Everything is all just the unexpected kindness of strangers but there are ways of gentle prodding - such as asking if it's ok if we cook on the porch. To which they replied - "are you hungry? We can make spaghetti." Yes!! We were treated to a really nice sit down dinner of really good spaghetti and bread with Parmesan and garlic butter. They were just so so nice. A young couple who hiked the trail a few years ago. Had dinner with us where we could all tell stories and talk the trail. After we cleaned up dinner they offered to play games. Settled on one called Cards Against Humanity. Definitely a game for adults and a lot of fun! Had a great time. Mariposa stayed up to play another game with them while the guys hit the porch. The rain had never really stopped but the lightning went away. The couch turned out to be a little too short for me and didn't sleep much but I'm sure the rain made it worse. My fellow Texans know what really heavy tropical rain is like but this was crazy. It just did not stop. That ultra heavy rain that the gutters can't keep with and goes on and on. Woke at two and fell asleep again at four and rained the whole time. Tomorrow is going to be rough on the trail.