Date: 2017-06-01
From: Mountain Harbour B&B and Hostel

To: Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel
Miles today: 12.1

Day 30Thursday, June 1, 2017 US 19E (393.8) to Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel (405.9)Miles: 12.1 in 6.5 hours with two breaks2017 AT trip miles: 405.9Total AT miles to date: 1699.2Weather: Sunny, pleasant, 60sDinner: Chicken ramen primaveraHikers: Snickers and Rob, Earthtone, Blaze, a father/daughter duo, an aunt/10-year old niece duo, Phantom, Ben on the trail and Popsicle here at the hostelWildlife: Two snakes, neither of which were rattlers I didn't leave this hostel vortex until 11:30 this morning. After arriving at 3 p.m. yesterday, by the time I finally left, this was practically a zero day. Except I ended up hiking another twelve miles today. Twelve extremely different miles than yesterday. But let's start with breakfast. Awesomeness. Three egg dishes, two potatoes, a tureen of sausages, blueberry pancakes, biscuits and gravy, a ¢Krispy Cr me¢ donut cake, puff pastries, and cookies. So yeah, I wasn't in too big of a hurry to leave. Plus I wanted to hang out in my treehouse room some more. Spent the morning writing and catching up on email, and planning out my next few days. I'm still carrying four dinners, thanks to my lack of will power when it came to eating that Teriyaki burger last night. Decided to make the potential two day trip to my next food drop 34 miles away into three days. The trail today was fantastic. Nary a stone to be trodden upon¢unlike yesterday's descent. The trail was flat with far fewer elevation changes. My plan was to hike to the first shelter, only 8.8 miles away. I showed up around four, even after taking a blue blaze trail to see Jones Fall (more awesomeness). Well, that's too early to stop especially if this leaves me with 25+ miles to knock off over the next two days. I'm not tired, the day is fine, so I push on. I decide that I'll go another three miles to a height of land that the guidebook indicated has a view. Typically views attract a stealth camp or two. And I am happy to be moving up and out of the rhododendrons into piney woods. But when I arrive at said view around 5:45 p.m., there are no flattened out spaces. I recheck the guidebook and realize that an inexpensive hostel is purported to be only .2 miles west of the view following an unmarked trail. Hmmm¢¦maybe? I definitely have to eat my food though, but what the heck. Ten dollars later, I'm ensconced in a bunkhouse and am freshly showered. However, the bunkhouse is the kind of place where I am first laying down my tent footprint over the mattress. The sleeping bag. Must. Not. Touch. It. Other than that, it is a lovely setting. I¢m writing on a porch over looking a mowed lawn while frogs are croaking in an unseen pond and the owner of the hostel is pounding out songs like Rocket Man and Fire and Rain on his piano as the sun sets. This seems to have been a good call vs. a night alone in my tent. Only one other woman is here¢a long distance section hiker finishing out another few hundred miles. We've been told there is a local bear and to keep our things inside. She hasn't seen a bear yet, so we're hoping for a showing. Fine by me since I'm not in a tent.