A little bit of yellow-blazing before a strong finish

It had rained steadily all night, but by morning the skies were clearing. I nonetheless had the joy of packing up a wet tent, always a good time. The day’s itinerary looked favorable, with only one halfway significant climb in the afternoon. Although I got a fairly early start, Groucho and Wild Violet were already gone.

There were pockets of low-lying clouds over the valleys.

There was a lot of flat, friendly trail in front of me as I slowly descended 700 ft.

At just under 3 miles I reached the Cove Mountain Shelter, where almost all of the thru-hikers were still in their hammocks, although I did get to meet Blackjack and Meep briefly. I had a quick snack and moved on.

The morning dew outlined a bunch of haphazard spider webs.

At 4.4 miles I arrived at the Buchanan View, which has a view to the west of, you guessed it, the town of Buchanan.

The slightly warm and moist conditions finally brought out some of my favorite critters of the woods.

After descending 1,100 ft. further I caught up to Groucho and Wild Violet at Jennings Creek, where the trail crosses the creek on a single-lane bridge before beginning a climb of Bryant Ridge.

However, Groucho had previously mentioned that there was a nearby campground, and we found one of their flyers posted on the bridge. Middle Creek Campground was only 1.5 miles away, had a grill and a store, and offered free shuttles to hikers. Everyone was in the mood for some grill food, so I called them up, and 15 minutes later we were in a short bus piloted by Crystal the Pistol, on our way to cheeseburger heaven.

We took a load off, and Crystal took our orders and got to cooking. We all ordered cheeseburgers, and a couple of Gatorades too. Wild Violet added a milkshake to her order. And before long we were inhaling calories. Tasty and greasy ones.

However, the afternoon was about to take an unexpected turn. Crystal informed us that a big storm was going to hit in the next hour or two, right as we would be cresting Bryant Ridge. None of us were thrilled about getting rained on again, but I was particularly concerned about repeating the ridgetop thunderstorm adventure of my last section hike. Crystal was trying to talk us into staying at the campground, but I really needed to keep more on schedule than that. I needed to be at Bryant Ridge Shelter tonight, and stopping at Middle Creek would leave me almost 4 miles short of that goal.

At this point, wise old Groucho suggested that we take a blue-blazed trail to the shelter off a nearby road. It was less than a mile long and would get us to the shelter before the storm. BUT, it would mean skipping 3.7 miles of actual AT. This practice is called yellow-blazing, and if I was on a thru-hike, I wouldn’t do it. I would’ve just stayed at Middle Creek. But section hikers have to stay on schedule, so I was game. Groucho and Wild Violet were even more game. Plus, I didn’t really want to hassle Crystal into shuttling us to two different drop-off points. So Crystal loaded us back up in the short bus and took us to the blue-blazed trail 5 minutes away. We thanked her and tipped her generously. I feel entirely comfortable giving Middle Creek an enthusiastic recommendation.

Crystal’s two dogs wanted to follow us on the trail, but she finally corralled them and we took off at a quick pace. 15 minutes later we were on the AT and then at Bryant Ridge Shelter.

This was possibly the nicest shelter I’ve ever stayed at. It looked like it was built by an Amish work crew with something to prove. It had windows, a deck, a huge loft and a nice fire pit. In anticipation of the storm, it was rapidly filling with thru-hikers. Lunger and some other hikers I knew were already there. I asked Lunger if there was room and he said “there is if you drink this beer” as he “forced” a Coors Light on me. Obviously I didn’t want to be impolite.

Several hikers were busy trying to get situated in the loft, and then one of them exclaimed “it looks like we have company up here.”

LAF and Ambassador were a couple more of the hikers there that I already knew in addition to Lunger. I also met Rafiki and Coins.

Groucho set up in a corner, while Wild Violet hilariously decided to accompany several other hikers BACK to the campground from which we’d just left, in order to do some food shopping.

There was a creek right by the shelter, and while I was rinsing out my pots after dinner I discovered that it was full of crayfish. This inspired Rafiki to catch a few, which he cooked over the fire with his ramen. He claimed that they were tasty.

Sure enough, the storm did come, but it didn’t last THAT long. Oh well. Eventually there were nearly 20 hikers in the shelter, and as a result there was some light partying past hiker midnight. Nobody minded. Day 6: 6.7 miles.

Today was the day that I had dreaded. It was to start with a 2,300 foot climb, and then in the afternoon there was yet another climb of 1,000 more feet to reach the summit of Apple Orchard Mountain at 4200 ft. This was more elevation gain for a single day than I’d ever tackled, even in the Smokies and The Winds. But my trail legs were coming in, and I felt well-rested, so there was hope. However, if this section hike was to be a bust, today was the day that would wreck it.

The first part of the morning climb was gradual, and there were abundant wildflowers to distract me.

The find of the day though was scattered specimens of the endangered Gray’s Lily. They were all a day or two away from blooming. This particular lily was discovered on Roan Mountain in Tennessee and is threatened by a leaf fungus. However, all of the specimens I saw looked healthy.

Before I knew it, 4 miles had passed and I had reached the short side trail to the Cornelius Creek Shelter. It was a good place for a late morning snack and to top off my water bottles.

The climbing, and the wildflowers, continued.

At 6 miles I reached the Black Rock Overlook, which had nice views to the west.

Shortly after the overlook there was a small stream with a sketchy looking footbridge.

Somewhere after this I entered the Thunder Ridge Wilderness at 2,428 acres the smallest of Virginia’s wildernesses. The birding almost immediately became spectacular. Warblers were everywhere in the canopy above me. My phone camera isn’t suited to zoom photography, but I did manage to get one half decent shot of a cool bird.

As the trail began the second big climb of the day it crossed over a couple of knobs with stunted trees, what my wife likes to call “fairy forests.”

At 9 miles I finally crested the open summit of Apple Orchard Mountain, home of a strange weather radar station. Thee were nice views to the north.

I had 4 bars of Verizon here, so I took a short break to check in with my wife and kids before hiking on.

As I re-entered the forest, I started to see a lot of wild columbine.

I then passed under “The Guillotine,” which I inexplicably forgot to take a picture of. Here’s what it looked like:

A short distance later the AT skirted a large meadow fringed by spruce trees.

At 10 miles the AT crossed our old friend the Blue Ridge Parkway and began a gentle descent. Not long after crossing the road there was a side trail down to a pooling spring. I decided to camel up here with 5 liters, which proved to be a great call since I never found the water source at the subsequent shelter.

This last bit of trail was rimmed by Beardtongue flowers (Penstemon sp.).

I finally reached Thunder Hill Shelter at around 4:30. I was to have the unusual experience of having it to myself for the night despite being in the midst of a thru-hiker bubble.

I cooked an early dinner of creamy pasta shells and then sat for a couple of hours in the shelter listening to and watching the many birds in the area. I beautiful male Scarlet Tanager visited, and then aBarred Owl. Meanwhile, a Veery and Eastern Wood Pewee were busy dueling each other vocally. The call of the Veery sounds like the noise you hear in Pac-Man when you die. I also saw an American Redstart and a Black-and-white Warbler. AND a large doe wandered right into the middle of camp.

As dusk came it got really windy. There was a bright moon too, so I kept seeing lots of moving shadows, It was kinda creepy, especially with all of the continuing animal noises. It was easy to imagine a bear lurking out there. But I was finally able to fall asleep. Bourbon might’ve helped. Day 7: 10.6 miles.

I hit the trail before 8 AM the next morning. My original schedule had me hiking about 11 miles to a campsite past Marble Spring, but I was already considering the possibility of going a couple of miles further to the shelter, or possibly (gasp) even a couple more miles to just go ahead and complete this hike. Knowing that Glasgow had a highly-regarded Italian restaurant was certainly providing some inspiration. I figured hitting the trail early would at least give me options.

About a mile and half into the morning I reached the Thunder Ridge Overlook. I took the short side trail to the parking area and took advantage of their trash can. My pack weight even with water was now down in the 13-14 lb. range, which felt like nothing.

The views from the overlook were especially good.

A tourist had left behind a shirt. Reading it had me motivated to get home quicker.

A large sign announced that I was now in the James River Face Wilderness. Established in 1975, this 8,900 acre wilderness is the oldest in Virginia.

Almost the entire day was spent losing elevation. I passed Buffet and Lifesaver in Petite’s Gap, and then tackled an annoying 700 ft. climb to the forested summit of Highcock Knob (lots of Gray’s lilies along the way). Because AT.

The trail then descended to an open grassy area in the woods- Marble Spring campsite. It wasn’t even noon, and I’d already knocked out 7 miles, so I took a break to go down to the spring and fill up.

When I returned from getting water I met 8 young college kids from Liberty University out on a day hike. They were looking for the Devil’s Marble Yard, which was actually 5 miles away, and didn’t seem to know exactly where they were or exactly how to get out of the woods. I went over the trail map with them using Guthook, and also guided them to the spring before I left (they were out of water). They were nice kids, and as far as I know they got out ok.

The trail then flattened out and followed the dry side of a ridge for several miles before descending gently and finally reaching Matt’s Creek Shelter, where I stopped for a quick snack break.

Wild Violet was just leaving as I arrived, and she gave me final thanks for her cheeseburger and milkshake. After a short break, I checked the time- 3:45. I’d come 13 odd miles in 8 hours, and it looked like I could hike the remaining 2.2 miles in plenty of time to get to the restaurant by dinner time.

The trail followed Matt’s Creek for a little ways then veered off and descended down towards the James River, which it reached about a mile later.

The trail stayed in the woods parallel to the river for about a mile before arriving at the James River footbridge. At around 1,000 feet, it is the longest footbridge on the AT.

There were lots of tubers and kayakers floating by. One tried to toss me a beer, but the distance was too great. It’s the thought that counts though.

The bridge led to a small parking lot on the other side, where I was quickly able to get a hitch to Glasgow from a nice couple. I then returned to Stanimal’s and paid Donna my parking fee, said hi to Polar Bear and PJ who were lounging in the carport, and headed to Scotto’s.

I was greeted by a nice waitress, and I asked her if they minded serving a smelly hiker. She replied that they loved hikers so much that they had a dedicated room just for them. And sure enough, there were already 3 hikers in it.

I ordered a MASSIVE amount of food- fried shrooms, large salad, cheesy garlic bread, and chicken parmesan with a side of spaghetti. I. ATE. IT. ALL. There is no shame in my food game.

Somehow all that food didn’t put me into a torpor. I managed to drive all the way to Rogersville TN before stopping to get a hotel room, and made it back home by noon the next day.

It was a great end to a hike, one that despite a bit of yellow-blazing was one that I had to consider a success. I survived nasty rain, my first blister, lots of significant climbs and some equipment failures, yet still managed to finish ahead of schedule. Maybe, just maybe, I’m getting tough enough to be considered a “real” hiker. I’m certainly looking forward all the more to my future hikes. Day 8: 15.0 miles. TRIP TOTAL: 81.5 miles.

Things take a turn for the better

After a restless night of sleep I got up at 6 AM anxious to get back on the trail. But first, a visit to the free Super 8 breakfast was in order. There were no eggs, no bacon, no sausage….but it WAS free. I ate my fair share of free yogurt.

After breakfast, I packed up and checked out. Upon walking out the front door, I was struck by how much the weather had improved. It was a crystal clear and surprisingly cool morning with a steady breeze. Perfect hiking weather, the kind that makes you restless in a good way, ready to get things done. I snapped a couple of quick pics before heading up the highway to the trail

On my way up the highway, I passed a little gas station called GB’s, and on a hunch I paid them a quick visit. Sure enough, they had fresh sandwiches. I ordered a turkey and swiss to carry out with me for lunch. By the way, this is the pro move- always try to leave town with a sub or sandwich for lunch. The nice lady behind the counter offered to wrap it in wax paper just for the nice hiker man.

The trail meandered through the woods alongside a creek for a short ways, and then started a gentle climb through what seemed to be a pecan orchard.

The trail continued a gentle climb for the better part of a mile through a mowed grassy corridor. I spied many patches of milkweed along the edge.

Eventually, I approached the crossing of I-81, which the trail goes under.

Not long after crossing the interstate, there was a brief roadwalk to get over US11 followed by a short stroll through a pasture before finally re-entering real forest and beginning the serious part of a 1,400 ft. climb.

The trail was nicely graded and switchbacked through the woods, so it didn’t feel terribly difficult. Plus, I was distracted by a treasure trove of wildflowers.

About 5 miles into the day I reached the end of my climb and the short side trail to Fullhardt Knob Shelter, where I met Groucho. We would run into each other on and off for the next several days. Both of us were disappointed to find that the spigot for the water cistern at the shelter wasn’t working. It looked like it was a government design, way over-engineered. It badly needs an Eagle Scout.

Luckily I had also purchased a Powerade at GB’s, so I was able to enjoy my lunch.

The nice thing- the ONLY nice thing- about a knob is that when you leave one you’re usually heading downhill, and thus I began a long descent after lunch. I passed through a wide stile along the way.

After a couple of miles, some stairs led me out of the woods and onto Salt Pond Rd.

At this point it was early afternoon and I had already knocked out 8 miles, so it seemed like a good place to have a snack and water break followed by a brief nap.

After a short rest I continued my descent into the woods, and nearly a mile later ran into Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and a couple other guys at Curry Creek. It was definitely time to camel up so I filtered 2 liters and stashed another in my CNOC bladder for later. Curry Creek was wide and probably was crossable via rocks, but my agility wasn’t up to the task, so I ended up just wading across. Back to having wet feet again.

The next couple of miles was pretty friendly trail, often fringed by Galax and Trailing Arbutus.

There was one final creek crossing to make- Wilson Creek- and this time I was able to keep my feet dry thanks to a couple of strategically placed logs.

A half mile later I reached the Wilson Creek Shelter. LAF (Lost and Found), Gazelle, PJ and Slow Poke were already there, and several more thru-hikers stopped by briefly for dinner before hiking on.

Although a diverse collection of characters, the fellowship and vibes at this shelter were exceptional. PJ was a very fit 68 year-old doing a LASH (Long Ass Section Hike). He was from Cincinnati and was familiar with the area my grandparents had lived. Gazelle was a young lady from the Philly area on a thru-hike, and Slow Poke was puttering up and down the trail for a while because he had nothing better to do.

Slow Poke built a nice fire in the fire ring, the smoke of which kept the now-emerging mosquito hordes at bay while we cooked our dinners.

Everyone else was sleeping in their tents or hammocks, so I had the shelter to myself this night. No mice, no snakes, no problems. Day 4: 11.5 miles.

I woke early the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. The first several days of a section hike beat me up, and I wake up feeling partially fossilized- stiff and achy. Bourbon and Vitamins I and MJ at bedtime help some. But here on the morning of Day 5 my body had started to adapt. Not only were my joints getting used to the work, my senses were becoming more acute and my trail legs were coming in. Add to that the once again perfect weather, and it promised to be a good day.

Less than a half mile into the day I passed a stream, where I topped off my water supply. The trail was really nice, and plant life continued to be worth being on the lookout for.

The trail then began an ascent of 1,200 ft over nearly 2 miles as it climbed towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. After crossing a dirt road in Blackhorse Gap the trail started to follow a rocky ridgeline parallel to the parkway. Along this stretch there were large patches of Appalachian Lily-of-the Valley.

Periodically I would hear a car or a group of motorcycles go by on the parkway, but it was more lightly trafficked that I expected.

At just over 3 miles I reached the Taylor Mountain Overlook off of the parkway, which had really nice views.

A mile later I reached the Montvale Overlook. Its sign was less defaced. There were views southeast towards the town of Montvale, and almost as important, a TRASH CAN! I gladly offloaded at least a pound of garbage that I’d been carrying.

A half-mile later I wandered into Harvey’s Knob Overlook. There was a nice shaded area in the grass that looked perfect for a quick water and snack break.

There were more excellent views from this overlook as well.

The trail then meandered back and forth between the woods and the road for the next mile or two. There were some cleared areas near the road that felt noticeably hotter; hiking through them sort of disturbed one’s mojo.

At last, the trail left the parkway and dove back into the forest for good.

The problem with hiking along the ridgeline was water, or lack thereof. Which meant that at around 7.5 miles I was forced to take the 0.3 mile side trail (descending steeply of course) down to Bobblet’s Gap Shelter, where there was a usually reliable boxed spring. Fortunately with the recent rains it was flowing strongly. I decided to take a late lunch break here, and while I was eating a trail maintenance crew from the Natural Bridge Trail Club came by. They cut down a dangerous tree near the privy and tidied things up. One guy had been using a weedeater to trim margins of the trail, and I appreciated his work after I left and continued hiking NOBO.

I saw at least 20 fairly tame deer during the day. The one below is the one that let me get the closest.

About a mile north of the shelter, the AT wound up back at the parkway and the Peaks of Otter Overlook. Yeah, the origin of the name is obscure.

Another half mile further up the trail was the last of the overlooks- Mills Gap Overlook- with views of the James River valley.

The trail then climbed back up onto the ridgeline. Right after it re-entered the forest there was a nice concrete picnic table, so I took a break for water and my last snack of the afternoon. While I was there, a large bubbly lady with a HUGE pack staggered by going SOBO and stopped to chat for minute. She was struggling but still had a smile on her face.

Now about that picnic table….

The trail finally left the ridgetop and descended to VA43 in Bearwallow Gap. There was a stream here, and I had hoped I might find a tentsite here as well. No such luck. What I did find was a poor young lady thru-hiker who was having her come apart moment of “I HATE THIS @#%$&* TRAIL.” I think her partner finally persuaded her not to quit since they hiked by my campsite later. Groucho was already there getting water, and we decided to camp 3/4 of a mile ahead at a known campsite, which unfortunately required a fairly rigorous 400 scramble up the side of a mountain. Nothing sucks at the end of a long day like scrambling up a mountain.

When we arrived, the skies turned gray all of a sudden, and a cold wind started blowing. It seemed that rain was coming to the party again. We got our tents set up, with me doing a rather poor job on a not so level site. As I was cooking up some Lebanese beef stew for dinner Wild Violet caught up to us. It turned out that I had WAY too much dinner to eat, and WV happily scarfed up my leftovers. She said it was the first hot dinner she’d had on her entire thru-hike. We then shared a little bit of bourbon before the rain came.

Listening to the rain pitter off my tent fly was hypnotic, and sleep came quickly. Day 5: 11.7 miles.

Embracing the suck of rain. LOTS of rain.

I hit the road for Glasgow Friday at noon. I hoped to arrive at Stanimal’s hostel around 8:00, but due to horrible traffic jams it was after 9:30 when I finally arrived. The hostel was fairly full, and quiet time (aka lights out) was 10 PM, so I had to hurriedly get unpacked and settled in to my bunk for the night.

My shuttle the next morning was scheduled for 7 AM, so I woke up at 6:00 and partook of some community coffee out in the carport with several thru-hikers, including K-Town, a cool Korean-American guy. It was drizzling, but gradually the rain increased in intensity. With each worsening burst of precipitation, a hiker would sit up and say “Yeah, I’m taking a zero today!” Thru-hikers have this option. Section hikers like me who are on a schedule don’t.

Just after 7:00, my shuttle driver Polar Bear arrived. We headed out into the rain, stopping once at a backcountry store to get a biscuit and coffee for breakfast. Along the way, he kept playing a song that became the week’s earworm- I Don’t Look Good Naked Any More.

He got me to the trail at VA624 in Catawba a little after 8:00, and off into the downpour I went.

Parts of the trail had turned into a flowing creek. Any attempt to maintain dry shoes was futile. And within an hour my rain jacket had wetted out.

About 1 1/2 miles in I entered a mile long stretch of pastures.

After a while I came to the first supposed “good view” of the day.

Fortunately, a little further on I met one of my spirit animals, which improved my mood.

As I neared the shelter, I encountered a very fresh and robust blowdown across the trail. It took some slithering to get through it. And at 6’2″ 235 lbs. I don’t slither that easily these days.

At around 2PM I arrived at Johns Spring Shelter, my planned stop for the day. Postman was already there, and we were soon joined by E.M.U. and Ambassador, and briefly visited by Tinker Bell and Peter Pan. EMU (from Eastern Mennonite University) was putting in 20 mile days because he had to finish before school started back up at the end of August. Postman was a SOBO who had dialed back his mileage while dealing with peroneal tendinitis.

Ambassador is a minor trail celebrity who has been featured on The Trek. She is from England, and was in the midst of her second attempt at an AT thru-hike.

I changed into my dry shirt and shed my wet shoes and socks in favor of dry socks and flip flops.

Another thru-hiker who stopped by briefly had lost a bet and was saddled with extra pack weight as a result.

Watching the endless rain finally became boring, so I prepared a dinner of loaded mashed potatoes, cameled up at the nearby spring, and went to bed before hiker midnight. Day 1: 7.0 miles.

It rained steadily throughout the night, and the rain continued into the morning. Nobody was particularly excited to go back out into it either. EMU was first to depart. Postman opted for an in-shelter zero to heal his ankle. I got back onto the trail around 8:30. The first mile had some slippery rock slabs to navigate.

There was a brief stretch of level trail before beginning the 1200 ft. ascent to McAfee Knob.

Early in the climb there was a spring bubbling out of the ground at the edge of the trail. I took the opportunity to top off my water bottles, as the next few miles were dry. At least as far as useable water anyway; the trail itself was soaked.

The climb turned out to not be so bad (I had expected worse), and before I knew it, there it was looming out of the fog- the famous McAfee Knob.

McAfee Knob is probably the most iconic photo on the entire Appalachian Trail. Thru-hikers typically get their picture made while sitting on the lip of it. Well, for starters, with my fear of heights I wasn’t going anywhere near the edge of THAT. And besides, in this crappy weather there wasn’t anyone around to take my picture anyway.

After hiking over and past the knob, the trail began a descent. Part-way down was the Campbell Shelter, where I took a break to get out of the rain and enjoy a cold-soaked lunch. Again, I was alone.

After lunch it was back into the gloom.

Roughly 5 miles beyond McAfee Knob was the quarter-mile stretch of the Tinker Cliffs, which along with Dragon’s Tooth and McAfee Knob comprises the “Virginia Triple Crown.” The welcome committee was waiting.

The trail skirted the edge of the cliffs, sometimes uncomfortably close to the edge. Once again, the usual spectacular views were completely obliterated by the weather.

A mile later I passed through Scorched Earth Gap, and less than a mile after that I reached Lambert Meadows Shelter.

A young couple named Buffet and Lifesaver were already there, and not long after I arrived a foursome joined us- Fridge, Mom, Donkey and Sriracha. And not long after that, the Pennsylvania Plattypus (yes, with 2 T’s) squeezed in as well. Close to 10 additional hikers drifted in later in the evening and had to go 0.1 mile further down the trail to a large campsite.

We somehow managed to squeeze 8 people and their gear into the 6-person shelter, all of us doing their best to dry out clothing and attend to other needs.

After dinner, I shared some bourbon with everyone, and then Fridge and Donkey offered up some herb for those willing to partake. And we traded trail stories, with me as the only section hiker more than content to listen to their 700+ miles of experiences. A highly enjoyable evening. Day 2: 9.4 miles.

The morning brought….you guessed it….more rain! But not as heavy as the previous 2 days. Everyone was excited to make it to town that day, but most of the other hikers were delayed by a “safety meeting” (their code for a morning blaze-up session), so in a shocker I was the first one back onto the trail. However, a mile into the day Plattypus absolutely blew by me, hiking at 4 mph.

I ran into another one of my spirit animals early on.

I also went through a stretch of trail that had clusters of Pink Lady Slippers right along the trail’s edge. They were unfortunately post-bloom.

A couple of miles into the day was an overlook, but given the weather there were no views to be had.

I kept waiting for the descent towards town to begin, but the trail had other ideas, continuing to dance around the rocky ridgeline. It certainly wasn’t trail built for a high mileage day.

At around 5.5 miles I stopped under the prodigious overhanging Hay Rock for a snack and water break.

The rain finally tapered off and the fog and mist started to clear. I finally got some views of Carlins Cove Reservoir from the ridgeline.

Along the rocky ridgeline were a few unusual trees that turned out to be big-toothed aspens. Virginia is towards the southern limit of their range, although there are disjunct populations in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The trail finally left the rocks of the ridgeline and began to descend, several times passing under large crackling power lines that kind of skeeved me out. However, it was a troll descent. The last half-mile or so into Daleville was actually a several hundred foot climb during which you hear all kinds of sounds of civilization, the sources of which you cannot see. And then all of a sudden you pop out onto US220. The Super 8 was right across the highway to the right.

I learned that normally you need to show a driver’s license to get a hotel room, but my wad of cash persuaded the nice lady at the front desk to make an exception for me. It helped that I had my license number and credit card number memorized.

I got into my room, spread out all of my gear to dry, and took a MUCH-needed shower.

After my shower, I filled the sink with soapy water and tossed in my dirtiest clothes. I then put on my “finest” remaining clothes and walked across the street to Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant. It was 5:15 and no other hikers were there yet. I found something on the menu called a Guadalajara Especial that had a lot of things on it, and enjoyed a margarita while I waited for my food to arrive.

I had told some other hikers to join me for drinks, and halfway through dinner I was joined by Fridge, Mom, Donkey and Sriracha. I treated them all to margaritas and we had a great time hanging out some more. Eventually though we realized that we all had laundry and other chores such as charging our electronics to attend to. I waddled back to the hotel, scrounged up some quarters and tossed my sink clothes into the dryer. I was finally ready for bed around 10PM but for some reason found it difficult to fall asleep in a real bed. Day 3: 9.6 miles.