It was another late start. The hostel didn’t serve breakfast til 8am and then required all of us to be ready to give us a ride down to the trail head. So, full of powdered eggs, bacon, sausage and gravy, we hit the trail close to 10. 

As we were dropped off at the trail head, Father Time and Poo Bear we’re getting picked up to go to the hostel. Father Time explained that he was slotted to give an Easter service from the trail tomorrow and needed to make sure he had a reliable connection (you could say he needed to make sure he had enough service, to hold a service – thank you folks, hope you had a wonderful evening and don’t forget to tip your waiters!). They were therefore taking an easy day and going to be staying there tonight.

It was an 18 mile day ahead of us but we knew the elevation wasn’t supposed to be too steep so no one was concerned about the time. The only concern was the heat. It was supposed to top out in the high 80s and, I at least, was not looking forward to that. 

I walked for a while with Hey Google to start the day. He is a lovely guy from Pittsburgh, who told me all about his pool league. And then about his other pool leagues. And then about his pool cues. And then about, well you get the point. 

As we were talking about the most recent league, I saw some sharpie on a downed tree. Mile 400 it read! Holy cow, 400 miles in!! We stopped for celebratory photos and what not. 

The conversation weaved and turned but frequently made it back to pool. It was fun chatting with him and made the time go by, but I was definitely a bit pooled out when I saw a river. It was only noon and I had barely done 6 miles, but it seemed as good a time as any to do a quick creek soak. I took off my shoes and waded in to the frigid water. Stuffing my face with beef jerky as I cooled off. 

The day warmed up as I walked and I was dripping sweat when I crossed a road. I was so busy looking for a spot to sit down and eat lunch that I almost missed the sign – trail magic! I sat down for 2 hot dogs, some Cheetos, an orange (got to fight off the scurvy somehow), a coke, a Mountain Dew and a Gatorade. 

Strider was our trail magic host du jour and he was great. We chatted about our trip, his thru hike last year and all his favorite things. Or we did at least whenever a guy named Fun Factwould let us get a word in (fun fact, Fun Fact sucks). 

When I got up to leave I went to shake Striders hand and thank him again. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug, “have the best time out there,” he said. “Don’t rush it, just enjoy it all.” I promised I would. 

The rest of the walk was hot and I started to feel it in my knees. They’ve been bothering me the last few days and I wasn’t sure why. That is until hey google, while walking behind me, asked if my knees always pronated that far inward. And that’s when it hit, I think I’ve worn through these shoes!

Damascus is only a few days away and they have a large outfitters. Looks like “get shoes” is the first thing I’ll do when I get there. 

Dinner tonight was a bag of refried beans and a block of cheddar (Reid, you can make fun of this one. I’ll admit it wasn’t the most gourmet.) and shared around a table with jackrabbit, salt, hey google, ninja (an ultra marathoner in his 60s), Pooh Bear and Shorts (a trail couple from Brussels and Canada) and Chaos (I was too scared to ask questions).

We chatted about the usual stuff until we saw a mouse running around the shelter. As most of us had set up our own tents or hammocks, no one was too upset about it. Not even Pooh Bear and Shorts, who were sleeping in the shelter. They just named her “Mildred the Mouse” and tried to take photos of her. 

It’s another beautiful night so I’m going again with no rain tarp, just staring up at the stars as I fall asleep. 

Key stats:

Miles: 18

Elevation gained: 4,200 ft

Number of times I will be repeating this dinner: 0