Date: 2008-04-16
From: Rod Hollow Shelter, va

To: Bear Den's Hostel, VA
Miles today: 9.9

Well ok, last nite it was harder to stay warm, but I think it was actuallywarmer temp wise! Go figure. I got to sleep around 10 to wake at 11 and getout to build up duff under my tarp. That did the trick and I don't think Iwoke until just before my alarm went off @ 6:15 a.m. It was 41 degrees when Iwoke.So today was the day of the majority of the infamous Roller Coaster, 10ups/downs in a 13.5 mile stretch. I did 8 of them over 9.9 miles. It was agorgeous day in the low 70's, I even wore shorts! My white legs REALLY neededthe sun! Seeing as how I only had 9.9 miles, I lolligagged like never before.There's a hilarious sign before starting the roller coaster warning you of itsdifficulty and it even says "See you at the Blackburn Trail Center (If yousurvive)." Made me laugh.So I started my first climb, and to be totally honest, it wasn't "as bad" as Ithought it would be. Just when you're sick to death of climbing, you're goingdown again. The further north you get though, the rockier it got, and that wastough at the end of the day, but at each gap between climbs is a beautifulstream, which was my reward.I hiked over my 2nd hump and decided it was time for my first shoes off footsoaking of 2008. Persistent and I cherished these moments. A guy showed up,Medicine Man from Woodstock, VA, and he is section hiking and really loves thistrail. He told me of a great rock scrambling place near where I live, so Ican't wait to check it out.It was 11:30 (I'd only gone 3 miles!! LOL) and I grabbed my lunch, took of myshoes and just soaked in the moment. It was blissful! He also gave me theskinny on the hostel I'm at tonight, and it made me even more excited.So it was basically a day of up and down and up and down and sweating andsweating some more, but it felt good. I saw a huge bunny today, so that wascool.Today I was hugely motivated by pizza and icecream. I kept counting down theclimbs, but I also really took my time today. I took another 1 hr long breakontop of Buzzard Hill, which has this great tree w/a huge branch that extendsout over the cliff. I sat there for a while and saw a little lizard dartingaround.I ran into 2 men looking for morel mushrooms, 2 hikers from Vancouver, CA, andof course Ken, the guy slacking his friends. Makes me laugh how I always seehim every day out here.On the last climb, I got pretty tired, I'll admit. I think the topos are a bitoff, but I passed a gentleman taking a break by a stream and we just saidhello, no name exchanges. I finally got to this INCREDIBLE hostel @ 4:45 p.m. Not bad for stepping off at 8:30 a.m. and taking tons of long breaks.So this hostel is super awesome. Very clean, in this gorgeous "castle" likerock house built in the 1930's, and basically a hiker's dream. I was firstapproached by Redwing, a 2 time thru-hiker, and then his wife Hopeful, also athru-hiker. They live here and run the place for the ATC. They are my age,w/a little baby named Lydia who knows sign language! Redwing gave me thelowdown and first thing was first...SHOWER!!! Man, I love that first showerafter not bathing for a few days. So get this, for a mere $25.00 you get abunk, shower, laundry, frozen Tombstone Pizza, pint of Ben-n-Jerry's icecream,internet, and FREE long distance phone calls!! Can you believe it? They alsohave a little short term resupply that you can get stuff at, which was goodbecause I sort of didn't pack enough food. I didn't think my appetite would beso huge right off the bat. The upstairs has 2 huge rooms, 1 with tables foreating, the other a grand living room, and then a full kitchen too. It remindsme of a smaller version of the Hiker Hostel in Dalonegha, GA.So I popped my pizza in and man was it good! I'm still waiting on ice creamthough, going to get that soon. Redwing and Hopeful are so wonderful, andbasically love this trail and wanted their lives to be surrounded by it. They've only been here 6 months, and they do an incredible job.There's one other guest here tonight and you won't believe who. The guy Ipassed, taking a break? He's the owner of the Dutch Hause in Montebello, VA!!! This is where I was staying my last nite as a thru-hiker last year!!!! Him andI actually hadn't met because him and his wife had gotten back from their son'swedding that nite, but he DID remember the police coming to the door, and hewas very excited that I managed to get back out here. His name is Earl andhe's a great person. I got to ask him about running a hostel and why theychose to do things a certain way. REALLY interesting. I wanted to say hi tohis wife, Lois, who was the one who came and woke me up early that morning.So tomorrow, it's 3 more humps and then I'm out of the rollercoaster. Lookingforward to being in Harper's Ferry on Friday. Karen is coming up for theweekend, so I can give my aching body a rest (I'm very sore). She got usaccomodations somewhere, but said it was a surprise, so I'm excited to see whatshe's up to.Oh, I broke my freakin spoon last nite, so I was lucky enough to get someplastic spoons here at the hostel. I think I'm going to cut the handle on anew Lexan spoon so it fits in my cookpot w/out having to bend it, which is whatbroke it in the first place. Duh......And finally, weird chaffing issue number 10,000. You all know I have extremelysensitive skin, prone to blisters, prone to everything, so today, I wassweating like a pig and (NOW DON'T LAUGH..IT'S NOT FUNNY!), the back pockets(the actual material that IS the pocket) inside of my hiking pants wereirritating my...um...well..."cheeks." LOL I swear...I can't win. So I pulledthe material up so they were sticking up out of the waistband of my shorts. Ilooked so cool...let me tell you. It worked though, and now I'm thinking aboutcutting them out, I don't use them. Seriously, if it's going to happen, andit's weird, it'll happen to me. And yes, you all know I share everything,because I want to give an accurate picture of what this long distance hikingthing is like.It was a spectacular hiking day. Yes, this is my 3rd nite out, I'm already at ahostel, clean, eating real food. I figure it's the Yang to the Yin of my 3rdnite last year...remember, car theives, rides in police cars to the DaloneghaPolice station @ midnight, getting stranded in Dalonegha, etc. It's only fairI think, to be pampered tonight. Well, gotta go get that Ben n Jerry's (Or as Medicine Man said today..andtotally cracked me up..a pint of Tom n Jerry's ice cream!). Tomorrow isanother day.~Certain