Date: 2017-09-02
From: Rocky Branch spring

To: Bear's Den hostel
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: clear sky

Shelters on the AT get a bit of a bad rap because of rampant vermin, which come in the form of rats and/or snorers. Like most of the stories I¢d heard about the AT before hiking it, the profusion of rats has proven to be a bit overhyped. (The snorers bit isn¢t exaggerated, though, and most shelters host nightly snorchestras. This includes me, which is another reason why I generally tend to avoid shelters and camp instead.)But on a grey, chilled and drizzly day, all such considerations are relegated into second place and the hiking world descends on whatever shelter is on offer.Today was just such a day, although I managed to miss hiking in the rain entirely through the cunning method of not getting out of my tent until after 1pm, by which time the rain had stopped. And then I only hiked about four miles to what turned out to be one of the nicest places on the entire trail: Bear¢s Den hostel.On the PCT and CDT I probably would have sucked it up and hiked through the rain but everything has changed with the advent of smartphones and the existence of five bars of reception at my campsite, which I meant that I knew this weather front was due to blow through rather than stick around.That and I received a message from Sriracha and Sweetblood, who I thought were half a day ahead of me, that they were actually behind me and were heading to the Bear¢s Den from their stealth campsite just outside of Harpers Ferry. I finally emerged from my tent just as members of Three Goldilocks and the Bear passed by to get water from the spring. They too said they were heading to Bear¢s Den. Packing up a wet tent reminded me why it was good to seek more substantial shelter on wet nights.As has been the case throughout the mid Atlantic section of the AT, there haven¢t been many views from the long green tunnel and today the few times it would have been an option, the only views on offer were of clouds. At one such overlook, I met a mother and son pair who were aiming to hike the whole AT, after which he was going to keep going, like a modern-day Peter Jenkins, all the way to California on foot.With just four miles to do and the Bear¢s Den being closed until 5pm, I took a half-mile detour down to the Horseshoe Curve restaurant, sited on the inside corner of a hairpin bend of the old road that was now superceded by a big new highway. I went for burgers and beer, enticed by discovering I¢m now apparently within the sphere of influence of Devil¢s Backbone Brewery¢s products. The brewery itself is famous for being, well, a brewery and also for being super hiker-friendly and letting hikers camp for free in the woods next door.But it turned out the restaurant was run by a former DC couple, the man of whom had a long career in the CIA, specialising in counterterrorism. Just from the tiny fraction of stories I heard, he would have been a good person to arrange a much longer session. In time I wandered back up the road and the one mile further to Bear¢s Den, arriving half an hour before it opened but finding a dozen or so people inside in one bunkroom that was open, enjoying the heat, warmth and, if I recall correctly, a really terrible 1980s movie playing on the VCR.When the hostel opened, I was able to snaffle a bed and discovered that the much rumoured inclusive package ¢ a bed, a soda, a tub of ice cream, a large pizza, laundry and all-you-can-eat make your own pancakes in the morning for $30 ¢ was reality rather than just cruel hearsay. That was a very easy decision.Sriracha, Sweetblood and Dirt rocked up in time, the latter of whom talked about heading on to a sodden campsite in another mile or so. This seemed to be for financial reasons ¢ a corollary of most sobos being new college grads ¢ but after enjoying the warmth of the hostel and seeing the drizzle return outside, sense outweighed cents and she booked a room.The rest of the evening was an enjoyable catch up with that they¢d been up to, along with Three Goldilocks and the Bear and a gaggle of people from the DC area who were just up for a few days.Life is good.AT fact of the day: The lodge was originally a summer home to escape the stifling heat of the plains below and was lavishly constructed in stone for a local couple. He was a doctor and she was an opera singer, which was why one end of the lounge involved a curved row of windows to aid the acoustics for which she held concerts. After falling into disuse, it eventually was bought by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.