Date: 2023-05-09
From: Upper Laurel Fork

To: Boots Off Hostel
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The creek didn't seem to affect my sleep one way or the other. I guess it makes sense, even when I'm at home, noise machines were never something I really used.The good news is that it didn't rain (or if it did, I didn't hear it) during the night. At around 6:00am or so, I got out of my tent to use the restroom and get my bear canister. Now the bad news. As soon as I got back into my tent about 10 minutes later, the thunder and lightning started. About 5 minutes after that, the rain started. So, I got back into my sleeping bag and went back to sleep hoping I could wait it out.It finally let up enough after about 2 hours that I got out of my tent and was able to start getting everything packed up. I also made sure Steve was awake and we were finally ready to hit the trail at about 9:00am or so.Steve and I hiked a little ways together, but I had decided that at the very least I was going to get to the top of Pond Flats today and maybe even push all the way to the Boots Off Hostel if I could get a reservation. That would be at least a 17 mile day with a potential of 20. Steve wasn't really interested in doing that many miles, so we parted ways as I sped up so I could get the miles in since we were starting later because of the storm.There are only a couple of spots on the hike worth mentioning. The first was down to Laural Falls about 13 miles in. That was a very strenuous half mile or so. It started by going pretty much straight down some very suspect stone "steps." They weren't nicely cut clean steps. Instead they were basically just stones that were placed somewhat haphazardly in a sort of downward direction. But once down, Laurel Falls was pretty awesome. It's probably the best waterfall I've seen since Amicalola Falls back at the very beginning. But, since I had to go down to get to the falls that meant I had to climb back up further up the trail. First though, the trail did run along the river for a bit and there was one section where the path ran along the stone walls. It was a little difficult to find at first because it was literally just a section of the rock face that had been cut out for the trail. It was about 6 inches wide and on one side was the river and on the other it was just the rock wall.The other part of the hike worth mentioning was the climb up Ponds Flat. When I got to the shelter a few miles before the start of the climb, I was tired but still feeling okay. I knew it was going to be a tough climb, but I definitely underestimated how tough. I think there were two factors that made it so tough. First, I'd already done 14 miles, so I was tired. Second, and it's now official that I'm complaining about non-cold weather, it was hot and humid enough to make a 3 mile climb feel even more miserable. I had to stop about half a dozen times and rest and I think I drank almost two liters of water on the 3 mile climb alone. By this time I knew I was going to go up and over because I had already made a reservation at the Boots Off Hostel. I was hoping for cabin or at least a room in the bunkhouse, but all they had were tent sites. But, it came with a shower, laundry, and breakfast so I was okay with it. By the time I got to the hostel, it was almost 9:00pm. There were sections on the way down Ponds Flat where it got pretty dark because of the trees, but I was pretty much out of the wooded area before it got totally dark. I did get to have an ice cream sandwich at the driveway entrance to the hostel, which was nice. There was a guy who had his RV parked there and when I walked up in the dark, he offered it to me and directed me towards the hostel. Then there was one last bit of drama. When I went to check in, apparently there was some kind of mistake because not only had they given my tent site to someone else, they had charged my credit card with the things the people had bought from the store. So, it took a little bit of extra time to get that sorted out, but I was eventually able to get a shower, get something to eat, and give them my laundry to do in the morning. They also had some other open tent areas, so I just ended up at one of those.I wish I could say that I was able to get to bed pretty soon afterwards, but I ended up staying up a bit later than I would have liked. Part of it was just the need to wind down after a long day of hiking, but I also got to talking to a couple of other hikers. They were each interesting in their own way. I had actually met one of them the day before at a shelter, but we only talked briefly. She was hiking with her Dad and she was very open about some of the mental issues she had. I won't go into details, but she said hiking is basically the one thing that helps with the problems that she's having.The other person also had some issues, but in a totally different way. He told us several stories, including one about seeing a raven get hit by a car at the NOC. After it got hit, this guy went and sawed the claw off of it, went through the necessary steps to preserve it, and now carries it around with him on the trail. Unfortunately I did not get to see it. He brought it the next morning at breakfast, but I missed it.He also told us about this girl he had met on the trail. They hooked up (he was very explicit about how many times), she professed her love but also cheated on him with other guys, then somehow by the end of the story she ended up hitching a ride to New Mexico. And all of this happened within a span of about a month or so. It's one of those stories that would take several pages to really do it justice.I didn't really do my normal food routine. I ate some trail mix for breakfast, started hiking, and then just kind of stopped a few times to snack until I got to the hostel. At the hostel I drank an orange Gatorade (which was given to me for free because of the reservation problems) and a frozen pepperoni pizza.