Date: 2023-07-19
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 18.2

Today I woke up at 5:15 and lay in bed for a couple of minutes until 5:25, and got moving at 6:30ish. The hike was fairly easy and uneventful, passing Center Point Knob (which was the original center point of the AT) and arriving into Boiling Springs around8:20am. As soon as we did, lo and behold a car goes by with hikers we know and we wave at them before going to Caffe 101 and got super mediocre food - I got a burntcappuccino (not supposed to be burnt) and eggs Benedict. While contemplating my food, Rabbit walks in! So we chat with him, hestayed at the hostel where we planned to finish at yesterday before we got waylaid with trailmagic. He went back to his table and texts us about the date he's overhearing at the next table. Big Boi / Grizzly Bear / etc walked in after and wesaid hi to them before leaving to go to the outfitter to top up on KT Tape and head out. Almost immediately in we ran into trail magic again! It was awoman who was doing it with her grandkids because her granddaughter is interested in the idea of thru hiking(brilliant idea) and they had made sandwiches, banana bread, fruit salad, had Gatorade, etc. It was awesomeand nice to sit down and rest my feet because my shoes were bothering me, and we chatted with the kids aboutwhat questions they might¢ve had about thru hiking. While there Rabbit, Long Strides, and Country Tart rolledthrough.Today was supposed to be a long hike because of the 13 miles with no camping or potable water (it was all fedby runoff from farms), and it was so much exposure to the sun and flat, densely packed ground which hurt myfeet. I passed Long Strides and Country Tart, and was limping along until Carlisle when we decided to go to theMiddlesex Diner with Rabbit so we road walked there. I got french onion soup, a patty melt, a sidesalad, root beer, and had a few bites of Rabbit¢s Oreo cake. Back on trail we hiked along, faster than before as my feet weren¢t hurting thank god, and we passed a farmstand selling milk fresh from cows. While standing in the stand, a kid rolled up in a plaid shirt, jeans, and boots,riding a unicycle to ask us if we wanted to buy anything and it was like Tom Sawyer lol. Further down thedriveway I saw someone else on a unicycle and I was like ¢oh my god is this an entire family of farmerunicyclists?¢ We pressed on, passing pretty fields and hopping stiles, and we passed Grizzly Bear who was hiking sans her tram as they had decided to detour at Dennys(further than the diner) so were temporarily MIA. We hiked, sat on a bridge for a break and asked riddles to Rabbit andGrizzly Bear when they wanted to pass. We stopped to refill water before camp where Grizzly Bear caught up to us, but thenI noticed it looked like it was going to rain so I wanted to rush off but I got caught in the shower anyways. The rain was tapering off when I got into camp, where SP and Rabbit were waiting. But it was SONICE to get into camp long before dark so I could actually luxuriate in being in camp you know?Grizzly Bear came in, we chatted, then the rest of her crew rolled in and we all just talked / vegged out on ourphones / did evening chores, and now I¢m lying in my bag updating this. I might see Junco and Spills in Duncannontomorrow which would be awesome. I also scheduled the kayaks for Friday which will be super fun! Get an arm workout for once eh.