Date: 2018-06-21
From: Knights Inn

To: Dahlgren Backpack Campground 
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

The birds always start their chirping between five and 530 in the morning. This is my daily wake up call. Tucked inside a soft cozy bed with the buzz of the air conditioner filling the room, my eyes still popped open just after 5 AM. The birds have conditioned me. I decided to get up anyway and enjoy one more soak in the bathtub.COLE ate and ate and ate his fill at the hotel breakfast counter. At least I didn¢t have to worry about him being hungry for a few minutes.We retraced our steps back to the trail that was beside the hostel and returned to where we had gotten off the AT. There were a couple of steep climbs , but for the most part, the trail was extremely flat today. The only thing to complain about is the rocks. There were a lot of them. Pennsylvania must be coming.The miles ticked by quickly today. At one point I stopped briefly to take a picture of the trail. Every day I take pictures of the trail and the blazes along the way. You can see some of these pictures on my Instagram feed which is The_Canadian_Trekker. I have taken my trail photos from Georgia and compiled them into a video which is up on YouTube. Once I have completed the trail I intend to do the same thing for each state we have passed through. It is just too time consuming to work at on the trail.At any rate, I digress.So .... I had pulled out my camera and was aiming it towards the trail in front of me to take a picture. I heard a hiker approaching me from behind. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and caught sight of an awful lot of skin. I thought, my goodness he isn¢t wearing much. I turned back to my camera to take my photo and suddenly what was in my viewfinder was a bare bottom. That was not the blaze I was intending to take a photo of! As he continued on down the trail the hiker hollered back over his shoulder ¢It¢s hike naked day!¢¢Yes, I guess it is,¢ I replied. What else was there to say?The back pack and butt crack continued on in front of me for a few minutes until naked hiker dude pulled away and disappeared. At lunch time Cole and I stopped at Gathland State Park. There was a bathroom and running water to fill our water bottles. Cole discovered that he only had one Croc attached to his backpack. He backtracked a short distance, but to no avail. I felt terrible because I am certain that I attached them to his backpack this morning. They are swiftwater crocs and he loves them. They are heavier than regular crocs but he was willing to carry the extra weight to have the shoes. Now he only has one.We stopped briefly at Rocky Run Shelter for a break, then continued on to Dahlgren Backpack Campground. It is a free Campground with restrooms and showers. As we were eating dinner Cole suddenly lifted his hand to his head. His brand new hat was not there. He checked the tent. He checked his backpack. He walked back up the trail a little way to check the path. He checked the washrooms. Nothing.¢I think that I left it at the last shelter.¢ he said. It was two miles back. ¢Can I go back and check?¢¢That is four extra miles!¢¢I know.¢It was still early enough that he would be able to make it before dark, so I told him he could go. In about 90 minutes he returned, hat in hand. What a relief!I handed him my small bottle of Dr. Broners soap and sent him off to have a shower. When he returned I asked him, ¢Did you learn a lesson today?¢¢Yes, I did.¢ He replied.¢Good. Now where is my soap?¢¢Oh. I guess I didn¢t learn a lesson after all,¢ he said and retraced his steps back to the washroom to retrieve the forgotten soap.