Date: 2015-06-15
From: PA309 Blue Mountain BnB

To: George Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.7

6/15, 12.7, George Outerbridge ShelterGetting back has been hard, but meeting nice people makes things a little more pleasant. The family from Alaska decided to have breakfast in the dining room so I decided to join them for eggs, bacon and toast. Our breakfast was prepared by, as we have dubbed him, the reluctant owner. It seems when the call from the Alaska family came for a reservation there was so much indecision it was hard to tell if he wanted to rent them a room. The BnB is in the process of being sold and the attached resturant is closed on Mondays so the owner often turns down guests on Sunday evening. What makes it difficult is he does realize that as thru hikers we are limited in places we can stay. He finally agreed to lodging and the tried to talk them out of breakfast. I had a similar experience when I called after the family, but to a lesser extent when he reluctantly agreed to a room but tried to negotiate out of breakfast. He offered me a reasonable discount but I declined, deciding to get to know the Alaskans a little more over breakfast. After breakfast I hiked out at 8:15 ahead of the others wanting to set my own pace and monitor my restart progress. Starting out the humidity was very high, temperature near 70 and a forecast for thunderstorms with a 60% chance. I decided not to challenge murphy and donned my pack cover, keeping my rain jacket handy. Murphy worked and there was no rain today, just alternating sun and clouds and diminishing humidity as the front moved in. I made my lunch stop at the first shelter 7.5 miles along the trail at 11:15. I was making good time so my pace is near what it was and my endurance improved even in one day, as I was not feeling leg tiredness like yesterday. My plan was for near 13 miles, so I relaxed and sat for lunch. The family hiked in as I was finishing 30 min later so I stayed a little longer, finally hiking on at 12:15. The trail today offered more rocks and the additional fun of climbing over steep boulder fields requiring turning backwards to climb down ladder style. There was also a section called knife edge, a common name in several areas, usually indicating a boulder field of edges at the very top of a ridge with sharp downhills on both sides. This knife edge was no exception and mixed with the moisture from last nights storm it was an interesting area to hike. Fortunately it was only a few hundred yards long so I managed to navigate it successfully. The best part of this day was the realization that my legs felt good all day, and my uphill pace is improving. My plan is to hike 17 tomorrow, but the toughest part will be the 1000 ft climb that I have been warned is near vertical at times. There are several small towns in the six miles between here and there, so maybe I will get second breakfast before the climb. I arrived at George Outerbridge shelter around 3 pm, which feels way too early to stop, but settled into the shelter anyway. The Alaskans hiked in a short time later and we have now been joined by several others. We have shared dinner, exchanged trail recipes, solved the US health care system and are now each reading before hiker midnight. Early risers all, we plan to be on trail by 6:30 so I hope the temperature will drop a little more from the current 75 degrees to facilitate sleeping. SilverbackOK. Funny story but moms stop reading to the kids. Haiku hiked in to the shelter around 7:45 tonight and shared a trail magic story. He came out of the woods at a trailhead parking area and was approached by an elderly gentleman whose wife was sitting in the car parked nearly across the path of the trail. The gentleman asked him if he was a thru hiker to which Haiku replied yes. Then he asked Haiku if he could wait just one minute. Haiku said sure, thinking trail magic is always welcome. The gentleman returned to the car and Haiku noticed his wife did not look very happy, even angry perhaps. After she exchanged a few words with her husband she stepped out of the car and lifted her shirt to flash Haiku! Not being able to react due to shock Haiku just stood there until the gentleman returned to explain. It seems it was simply a case of a lost bet and Haiku was the recipient of her payoff. Yep, you never know whats gong to happen on the AT!