Date: 2023-04-29
From: Little Laurel Shelter 

To: Rector Laurel Road/Laurel Hostel
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Cutting my hike short yesterday turned out to be the correct decision. It rained during the night, so it was pretty misty this morning, but by about noon or so it had cleared up and was sunny my entire hike.I will note that at about 4:00am, some asshat came into camp, setup at the picnic table right in front of the shelter, and turned on a light that was basically a miniature sun. It lit up the entire shelter and then he decided it would be a good idea to fire up his stove. So, it was super bright and pretty loud. I finally got up to go to the bathroom and on my way back, rather curtly, asked him how long he planned on being there. I think he got my point because he asked if I wanted him to turn off the light, which I responded that it would be nice since there was a shelter full of people trying to sleep. He did turn off the light, but still made a bit of a racket for another 30-45 minutes before he finally packed up and moved on.My best guess is that he wasn't a thru-hiker, but a homeless guy, possibly a meth head. I've heard they do show up on the trail sometimes, and though I didn't get a good look at him, I did notice that he was missing a bunch of teeth. I ended up getting up not too long afterwards. The plan was originally to try and hike to the closest shelter to Sam's Gap, which was about 2.5 miles away so that i could get to the hostel as early as possible. For some reason I thought it was only about 20 miles. Long, but doable. About 14 miles in though, I discovered that it was actually closer to 23. I was still going to attempt it and I definitely tried my best, but the weather was starting to look just a little too dicey to risk continuing. Overall the hike was pretty easy. There was a section right at the beginning (the Little Laurel Shelter was actually part way up the mountain, so I had actually already climbed a good section of it the day before) that was tough and then another section up to Big Butt about 9 miles into the hike that was also tough. The rest of it was either very flat or only small ups and downs. Had I continued, the climb up to Lick Rock would have also been tough, but... the weather. I wasn't so much worried about the rain as I was about thunderstorms. The clouds were getting awfully dark and the last section before getting to the shelter involved going up and over Lick Rock, which was about 1,500 feet or so. I just didn't want to risk being that high in a thunderstorm, so I took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.When I got to Rector Laurel Road, which is right before the beginning of the ascent, there was a sign pointing toward the direction of a hostel called Laurel Hostel. There was a couple who I had met a few shelters back who had originally told me about it and they were considering staying there also. I had actually passed it and was going to continue on the trail, but that's when I looked at the sky and saw how dark it was getting, so I turned around and am now staying at the hostel. I still did almost 17 miles today and the hostel is only $25 for a bed. Though it didn't actually end up raining, I think it is supposed to rain tonight and into tomorrow morning. Even if I had made it to the shelter, it would have almost certainly been full. That means a tent, which means I probably would have had to pack up everything tomorrow in the rain. So, I'll stay here tonight and hopefully the weather clears up by early tomorrow morning and I can still get to Sam's Gap at a good time. Hopefully. Breakfast: Nature's Bakery Blueberry Fig Bar.Snack 1: Butterfinger 2 piece share pack. I did not share.Lunch: 2 peanut butter tacosSnack 2: Second Nature Omega Mix and some Nice! Tropical Trail Mix Dinner: Frozen Totino's triple cheese pizza and a wild cherry Pepsi at the hostel.