There was a big thunderstorm last night. I'm so glad we were in such a nice big shelter with a roof that didn't leak! Most people decided to zero today. I don't blame them. It was super windy (when we arrived yesterday afternoon, the wind was blowing up through cracks in the floorboards and making empty sleeping bags look like they were breathing) and the forecast called for more bad weather. We had reservations at the Mountain Harbour so we pushed on.
It was K-R-A-Z-Y WINDY! Seriously! The strongest winds I'd ever been in. 70 mph gusts maybe? It was literally blowing us off the trail. I had to stop often to brace myself so I wouldn't fall over. When it would die down I'd run up the trail. It was exhausting but kind of fun. I'm lucky the two people I was hiking with found it equally fun. Attitude is everything out here. At least it wasn't lightning or even raining when we went over the balds.
We saw another eft and a really fast salamander. There were also giant worms on the trail. Nasty! My knees felt great and I was moving fast on the downhills. We made it to the highway around 12:45. There was litter everywhere and we had to walk next to traffic to get to the B&B. It was a pretty short 0.3 mile walk to Mountain Harbour. It's a cute house with a barn (the hostel), lots of dogs, a couple of goats, and some horses. Longhorn was there when we got there. He's zeroing there today. A few of our other friends were there too. Bluebird, Wing It, and I grabbed three twin beds in the loft. Getting up and down that ladder is tough on sore legs!
I walked up to the main house to make some phone calls. They had five dogs, including a Boston Terrier! I fell in love! Rosie is such a cutie. I called Mom and Heather. Then I showered and we had the caretaker, Vagabond, do our laundry. Vagabond thru-hiked last year. She's a grandmother with a shaved white head except for some bangs in the front. She maintains the hostel.
We took the free 5:00 shuttle to town to resupply and eat dinner. I ordered a salad at Bob's Dairyland and waited on it for about 30 minutes. I went up to the counter to ask about it and they said it would be right out. They brought out Wing It's salad and I waited 10 more minutes. I went up again and they said they were going as fast as they could. Ten minutes later, Wing It went in to inquire. He found out they lost my ticket! Grrr. I ended up having to get my meal to go. Not cool. Oh well. At least I still got to eat.
Back at the hostel we got to watch my favorite movie of all time, Apollo 13. Now we have a plan to watch as many Tom Hanks movies as we can out here since we watched Turner & Hooch in Erwin. I realized looking at the movie box (VHS) that Apollo 13 has been my favorite movie for 19 years. Apparently I find something I like and stick with it. :-) Longhorn made a beer run so we enjoyed those, popcorn, cherry tomatoes, Sour Patch kids, and other random foods while we watched the movie. We started my second favorite movie, Jurassic Park, but people wanted to go to sleep so we turned it off early.
It hasn't rained all day but it's 11:04 p.m. and the winds are starting to howl. We didn't need to zero today, but I'm glad we did!
Best Thing: My favorite movies, Boston Terrier kisses, and relaxing with some of my favorite trail people.
Looking Forward To: Hitting the 400 miles mark tomorrow!
Bob's Dairyland!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJoe in my office says you need to post more and that we are taking bets if you are going to finish the AT or not. I have no doubt!! :) (But, honestly, people who work with me ask me all the time how you are doing, where you are and look at the pictures you post.) Love you!
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