Date: 2018-05-05
From: Doll Flats

To: Roan town
Miles today: 3.0

We woke up today to no rain. The forecast said it would be 50 percent by 9 am but there wasn't any. I was hoping we would get rain because it has only rained for 3 out of 45 days we've been on the trail. Eventually the streams will dry up and we'll end up carrying more water than normal. Also, the forest becomes fuel for forest fires. We've already have heard of one blazing in Virginia. I ate a breakfast of coffee and a protein cookie. It was still really filling because the cookie was 400 calories.  We had a short hike today down to Roan town. It was a gradual 3 miles to the road and was pretty easy. When we arrived there was a shuttle already there to take us to the station hostel. We were planning on going to town but the hostel had beer and the town was dry. It was an easy decision. We hung out there for 2 hours waiting for the shuttle to town. I had a cup of coffee and hung around updating my journal.We first stopped at the bakery for lunch. They had a wood fired oven for making pizzas. We ordered 5 pizzas for the 4 of us because it was buy 4 get 1 free. 5 pizzas is no match for 4 hungry hikers. We killed those pizzas. We walked into town and first stopped at the thift store. Spineli found and flowered Hawaiian shirt for Booger Bear that fit him and his style perfectly. We ran across the street picked up our resupply, got milkshakes at Bob's dairyland, then got a shuttle back to the hotel.Booger bear was waiting for the Kentucky Derby to start. He has hosted a party for it for several years. This was the first time he wasn't in Austin but told his parents that he would find a TV to watch it. Pumpkin Spice showed up. We haven't seen him for 150 miles. It seemed that he struck up a trailmance with Poncho. It was the first one that I have seen on the trail. Scissors showed up next. We all hung out in the common room in the hostel catching up over the last few weeks. Pumpkin Spice told us of an older woman named Pathfinder who was hiking the trail at 76. She had problems climbing the mountains and learned to ask for help from fellow hikers to help her carry her stuff. Her late husband told her that life was too short before he passed away and she had wanted to hike the trail since she was 50. She was determined to do it even if it meant struggling to hike. Pumpkin Spice had carried her pack 3 miles including his to Neels Gap. He then hadn't heard of her since. He admired her determination even though the cards were stacked against her.The derby kicked off while a group of us was playing cards against humanity. I got a large plate of BBQ that hostel had been preparing all day. The commissioner of Roan town setup a karaoke booth and everyone started singing. Then the guitars came out and everyone started jamming. Rotten Ronnie appeared and started playing as well. He's been pretty tame over the last few weeks. I wonder if his reputation has caught up with him.We kept drinking into the night and eventually decided it was time to go. One of the owners was kind enough to drive us back to the trail instead of us walking back.Tonight I'm tenting next to the river. The babbling sounds is soothing.