Date: 2023-05-24
From: Walker Gap

To: US-52/The Weary Feet Hostel
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Burke's Garden ended up being a pretty decent place to stay. It is only about two years old and you can tell. Everything still looks pretty new and clean. Hopefully the owners can maintain that.The waffle bar was really just a make your own waffle in the morning thing. It's been while since I've used a waffle iron. I ended up putting too much batter in the thing and I also undercooked it. So, it wasn't great.Steve wasn't sure last night if he was going to hike the 20 miles that I was going to hike to get to the next hostel, but by morning he had made up his mind to do it.So, the hostel owner drove us back to the trailhead (it's about a .75 miles downhill walk off trail to his place and he offers rides back up the next morning for those who stay overnight) and we started hiking at about 7:45am. Unfortunately not too far into the hike, we missed a turn and hiked probably about a quarter mile on the wrong trail. I should have known when it was mostly downhill.But, after that mishap the rest of the hike was good, but long. There were quite a few flat areas, with one that ran for probably a good 5 or 6 miles. Of course that was after a fairly brutal climb up to it.After the 20 mile hike, we got picked up near US-52 and we're staying at The Weary Feet Hostel tonight and tomorrow. The worst thing about doing a big mile day isn't really the miles and the soreness that comes along with it. That's all usually better by the morning. No, the worst thing is that I end up getting to where I'm going much later and I don't have as much time to just decompress from the days hike.I got to the pickup spot at about 5:45pm, Steve got there about 45 minutes later, and by the time the shuttle arrived and dropped us off at the hostel, it was past 7:30. After dinner and a shower, it's now past 9:00pm and time for bed. So, I just didn't have much time to just kick my feet up and relax for a bit. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a little more time to unwind because we're going to get dropped off where we got picked up and slackpack the 18 or so miles back to the hostel. I think in a previous post, I did say that I had no interest in slackpacking, but circumstances have changed and it wouldn't make sense not to do it.So today we started near Walker Gap at mile marker 571.2. We hiked to 20.6 miles to mile 591.8 and got picked up by The Weary Feet Hostel, which is off mile 609.9. Notice that The Weary Feet Hostel is further ahead on the trail, by 18.1 miles, from where we got picked up. Since I'm staying here tomorrow also, it doesn't make sense to carry anything more than a days worth of things. So, that is what I'm going to do tomorrow. The only issue might be when we start. Breakfast is at 7 and the drive to the drop off point is about 25 minutes. So, we might not be able to start until close to 9. Not ideal for an 18 mile day.Breakfast: An undercooked waffle.Lunch: Two packets of Starkist teriyaki chicken, two oatmeal cream pies.Recovery Drink: Ovaltine with powdered goat milkDinner: A basic salad with Italian dressing, a dinner roll, and a large plate of spaghetti with meat sauce at The Weary Feet Hostel. Dessert: A piece of chocolate cake at The Weary Feet Hostel