Date: 2018-05-31
From: StanimalÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs 328 Hostel Glasgow, VA

To: Punchbowl Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: light rain

I got up at the hostel and ate breakfast. Donna came before 7 to take everyone¢s payment and take a load of hikers back to the trail.I had to say goodbye to Workhorse and Dreamcatcher for the last time - very sad. The only thing that was good about that is they were trying to give me the trail name of ¢Princess Nomad¢. I don¢t like it because it¢s kinda dumb, and it has too many syllables. The princess thing started once when Chance It and Workhorse were checking out my quilt. Several times I¢ve pulled it out and other hikers ask ¢What IS that?¢ It¢s stuffed with something high tech I forget the name of and the outside is cuben. It¢s very lightweight and completely waterproof. It¢s so waterproof that when I put it in the compression sac with a couple drops of water or sweat, they will still be there when I pull it out again. But it looks like a pile of wax paper or packing material. Chance It was touching it and asked me if it was cheap. I answered ¢No, it¢s really expensive, but I need my princess gear¢. And the nomad thing is kind of obvious. I¢m really glad that there are all these lightweight options because it makes backpacking possible for so many more people.Anyway, I felt a little rushed this morning. I had a feeling that I left something behind and I only had a few sips of coffee. After 1.7 miles on the trail, I stopped at the Johns Hollow Shelter. I had coffee and drank a bunch of water since that was the only water before this shelter. Jukebox was still getting started and this South African couple stopped for a break. Back on the trail, my right knee was really painful. Every step was agony. I had a really heavy pack (6 days of food) and wasn¢t sure how I was going to get through the day, much less the next six. I decided to drink a liter of water, and I don¢t know if it was that I got rid of those two pounds of weight, or that the coffee kicked in, or the Advil that I took with the coffee kicked in, but in a little while I felt better. It¢s one of the rare times when the afternoon went better than the morning.I was the first one into the shelter at 2:30 pm, but I was done. In a little while Imua showed up. He is a thru-hiker and was with his friend Ira at the Thunder Hill Shelter two nights ago. Ira had arranged to hike with Imua for 5 days, but left the trail this morning after 3 days. Imua and I talked about how hard the trail is and how it¢s hard to explain it to people who have never experienced it. It¢s such a 24/7 multifaceted endurance experience.Shadow (thru-hiker) showed up and set himself up in the shelter. Shortly after, Cathy came in. She lives near Waynesboro and hosted thru-hikers last year and got interested in the AT. She¢s out for two weeks as an experiment to see if she wants to retire and do a thru-hike. I asked her what her husband thinks of it and she said her husband thinks she¢s crazy. Shadow and I gave each other the ¢well, duh¢ look. It kind of goes with the territory. Cathy asked me why I do long-distance hiking and I have no good answer at this point. I do notice that after a few weeks I get desensitized to being out in nature. Right now it¢s just about getting enough miles to get done in time.In between these conversations, I got my tent set up, hung my food rope, got water, and made dinner. As I started eating, a thunderstorm broke loose and we moved inside the shelter. The ground in front of the shelter became a temporary raging river. When the storm let up, I went to check my tent, and the floor was wet. Not sure if it seeped from the bottom, or wet through, or what. Briefly considered staying in the shelter, but there is a stagnant pond here and the bugs are horrible. I set up my tent with my sleeping pad out to lie on and my pack liner under my pack. It¢ll be a damp night.Cathy¢s husband told her there¢s a second storm front rolling through later so I hope my tent holds up to that. People have been trickling in since I got in my tent.