Date: 2023-06-06
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Weary Feet Hostel
Miles today: 6.2

Some context is needed: this entire hike I have seen PATCH MCCRAKEN NOBO 23 graffitied EVERYWHERE. No shelter, table, or privy was safe from Patch¢s reign of terror. I imagined Patch to be a wiry ginger dude who was long ahead of me, and even joked to SP the day before that I was going to post on Reddit looking for Patch and telling them I would fight him to make him stop graffitiing EVERYTHING. Let¢s set the scene: this morning we¢re packing, and the old lady tented next to me came up to us to compliment how we were so quiet when we came in and set up and weren¢t disruptive to folks¢ sleep. Straightforward enough right? We¢re about to leave when a guy walks up to us and asks ¢Patch, do you want to get water¢ to which SP asks incredulously to the old lady ¢wait, are YOU Patch McCracken????¢ to which she¢s like ¢why yes! Why do you ask?¢This was like a Scooby Doo villain reveal, but instead of a villain an old lady. The other guy is revealed to be Lt. Dan who I have also seen graffitiing all over the place, but more recently than Patch. This was a little awkward at this point because SP tells her I had been looking for her the whole hike, and when she asks why I mumble something about the graffiti but of course SP says that I want to fight her because of all the graffiti, as he¢s an instigator and can¢t let a good opportunity pass by. To which she comes closer, and Lt. Dan and SP both immediately place bets on her winning (gee, thanks) but I smooth it over by asking her to graffiti my powerbank (which I then immediately regret because now it looks like I stole it from her) and we end up taking a picture together to document the occasion and she gifts me her silver sharpie. What are the odds that I would not only run into her but tent next to her? It¢s a small small world on the trail. Amazingly random encounter done and all good (SP confirms to Patch that I was kidding about fighting her, I was just stunned to actually meet her in the flesh versus just some amorphous entity in my head), we move on. Unfortunately we were bonked from the 23 miles yesterday, stumbling along. Today we felt disinterested in hiking,  listening to music to force the time to pass when normally we¢re content to chill, look around, and zone out to the sounds of nature and each others¢ random thoughts. After crossing a cool suspension bridge, we had lunch and I finally had the Good to Go kale bean stew. It was so awful SP could see my morale get zapped to zero so he suggested we take a nero and go to a nearby hostel, Weary Feet Hostel. I was stubborn about considering it initially but caved, which good thing I did because as soon we started walking to the hostel I just kept thinking ¢THANK GOD.¢ As Goldie would say, you should be live, laugh, loving the hike and today was a day in which I was not. Instead of forcing it, sometimes it¢s best to just give up for the day and take a shower. The hostel advertised burgers made from their cows, which we ordered along with 3 slices of cake (as to sample all 3 flavors on deck - strawberry, vanilla, chocolate). I went up to shower while the food was being cooked, and coming back down I saw Rabbit! We had initially met him shuttling into Damascus and last ran into him at Quarter Way Inn. While eating with him, the hikers we saw yesterday at the grill rolled in for a quick lunch. Post socialization, I read for a bit and did laundry - after which I went to the porch and saw a huge contingent of folks (2 hiking groups plus other soloish hikers) and we all hung out until dinner was served. I had hamburger steak and gravy, terrible canned string beans, sweet potatos, and Mac and cheese, and cups and cups of sweet iced tea. After dinner I had a hilarious moment with Big Boy when we accidentally opened the door on Grizzly Bear peeing / scrolling the internet on the toilet and her expression was just :o . After that we ended up vegging a bit in the den before going to bed and passing out.