Date: 2017-07-17
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Bear's Den Hostel
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: few clouds

I was very happy with the way I slept in the tent last night.  Wasn't sure how it was going to go with the rocky camp site and all but the air pad worked great!  The plan for the day is to get through the "Roller Coaster".  It's a 13 mile stretch of trail with a series of steep ascents and descents and NO views.  I've done this section before on a southbound section hike and don't remember it being all that tough.  It was also in April and was raining so it wasn't that fun either.  It took me a while to pack up this morning because I was starting a new routine with the tent and pad instead of the hammock and rainfly.  I'll have to get better because it took me almost an hour to get on trail.  The humidity was already up and I was sweating in minutes even though the trail was good.  I caught up with Stumbles and saw him looking at the ground.  I thought he found a snake or something.  What he was looking at was the 1000 mile marker in the trail!!!! Woooohoooo!!! It is ridiculous to think that I've walked a thousand miles.  The first few hundred mile markers came so slow, but now they're just flying by!  After around 5 miles, I saw the sign for the start of the roller coaster.  I looked at the app to see how many hills there were so I could count them down.  There were about 12 hills - no problem.  I was whooped after the 1st!!  The heat and humidity were killing my energy.  About halfway up the 2nd hill, I laid down and took a 45 minute nap.  Woke up feeling refreshed and continued up the hill.  I had lunch by a stream and got to soak my feet in the cold water, it was so refreshing.  Continuing on the roller coaster, I was a sweaty mess in minutes and decided to head to the Bear's Den Hostel.  It's .1 off the trail and allows me to split up the roller coaster.  In the morning I'll have about 4 miles left and I'll tackle it before it gets too hot and humid.  Now that my plan was shortened, I really didn't have to push the pace at all.  It's a good thing too because I didn't have the energy.  I walked up to the entrance of the hostel and was greeted by 1 of the volunteers.  He led me inside to the desk where I registered. $23 got me a bunk, shower, and laundry.  Stumbles was here already along with Casper (NOBO) and Nomad (SOBO).  1st order of business is always the shower - especially on a day like this!!  And just like that, everything is good again!!  Did laundry and ate down some weight from my food bag.  They also had a piano and guitar here so I got to make some noise for a bit.  Casper is from Germany and she has until October 8th to finish before her visa runs out so she is pretty motivated to move on quick.  Nomad is from Massachusetts and is flying down the trail.  His biggest day was just under 60 miles!! I don't even know how that is possible but I'm sure he had a day or two off after that.  I have no interest in doing anything near that mileage.  I would like to hit 30 one day though.  It should be possible in the flatter terrain of MD or Southern PA.  No problem getting to sleep here tonight in the AC (also no Wifi to keep me up)