Date: 2005-08-01
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Glencliff, New Hampshire
Miles today: 7.4

I was up and walking by six o¢clock this morning and it was a pretty wet Trail. It rained last night. Also, somebody popped in last night. I found out later who it was. It was Maniac, who walked right in at dark, and asked if the bugs were bad. I told him that other people were tenting and I covered myself with DEET. This morning everything was very damp and there was overgrowth, so I pretty well got soaking wet walking into Glencliff. Lots of rocks and roots that were wet as well. So, it was a very slippery morning. I could not get in fast enough. I was very excited to be walking into the place I left the trail from last time. I hit the road at quarter to nine and walked down into the Hikers Welcome Hostel. Sitting at the table were OC1 and Easy Goer, who had somehow passed me in the past twenty four hours. So, it was good to see them again. Real strong feelings about being here.I got my shower done; my laundry done early. One of the reasons I had hiked in so fast was because I wanted to make sure I didn¢t get caught in with the crowd taking care of business. Then I took a shuttle in with OC1 and Easy Goer into town. They charged $2.50 a head. We stocked up on pizzas and food and got back. We sat down and ate and watched all the people walking in. Galloping Gourmet and her husband, who I can¢t remember his name now, walked in about an hour and a half after me.Interesting collection of people here. This is a magnet, this hostel, for people on the Trail. Lion King is here; apparently has been here for a couple of weeks. I heard Fedge had gone home. Fat Chap is running the hostel. I talked to him for a while as well. Another person of note that I sat and had a pretty good rappoire and conversations with was Stump Knocker. Eddie had met him all the way back in North Carolina; he was doing Trail magic at the time. Stump Knocker is a very interesting person. He¢s been on the Appalachian Trail now for four years. He sold his house four years ago; he¢s been walking every since. Ten thousand miles worth of walking. He had a lot of good advice. Really nice guy. Really gentle, low key kind of guy. Great person to sit and just hang out with. We had a lot of people in common that we know including ElWop and Mrs. Gorp and several others. We had good conversations.Brought back some Long Trail Ales and some steak and garlic pizzas, from the Garlic Clove Restaurant, which true to it¢s name, doesn¢t just put garlic on your pizza, they put entire cloves of garlic on your pizza. Pretty big shock to bite into those suckers.Quite a few people walked in here last night. Maniac and some others.I had a pretty good time just hanging out and socializing. I went to bed fairly late; about ten thirty or so.Oh, it turns out that later in the evening, Stump Knocker was going to buy Fat Chap dinner, so myself and Michigan, who was also here, jumped in the van with them and drove all the way into North Woodstock and went to the Chalet Restaurant. It is a really fine restaurant. I got a couple of really killer Margaritas and best of all, surf and turf, a 12 ounce, really excellent prime rib, and a one pound lobster. What a treat. That¢s why we came back and went to bed so late.That's it for now