Slept gloriously last night and woke up feeling refreshed. Happy Father's Day, dad!!! It's really cool that I could spend some time with my dad on his day.
We went out and had the hotel breakfast in the lobby AND feasted on the beakfast strata mom brought. Stuffed once again! We had a late check out, so we watched soccer while we packed up slowly. Eventually, we were packing five hikers (with full packs), two parents (with coolers/food/clothes) and a dog into the minivan. Dan had his motorcycle.
Off to Target! I got shorts, and Powder got a wiffle ball and bat (standard issue). We hung out in the shade outside Target before making it back to the trail head. It was pretty hot out there, soooo we hung out by the cars in the shade in the little parking area and feasted on the leftover food. Mmmm pudding, strata, fruit and pretzel sticks. Deetz/Power Pack showed up, and Loon/East Wind/Seldom Seen were just leaving for town. Beaver Chief and Ghetto Sheep came among as well, and we all threw back as much food as we could before hiking.
Then it was finally time to leave. It was still hot at 4pm, but there were miles to walk! I said my goodbyes ti the family and took off. Uphill for a while, but not too bad. Lots of sweating, but I didn't stop till I got to the shelter 5.9 miles away. What a nice shelter! A covered picnic area (with leftover trail magic sodas) and a great big porch. AND!! Apparently the guy who brought all the food had a big ole party Saturday and Sunday morning with burgers and beer and hot dogs, and it was Chris "Half Elvis" - the guy from my REI trip back in April!!! Holy small world again, right!!?! Unfortunately, I missed him by a few hours, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.
I wasn't planning on staying here, but Superman was here, and Ghetto Sheep seemed cool, and the rest of the kids were on the way, and then they said they were going to stay... so I decided to stay, too. No biggie. Fifty miles to do by Tuesday night, but I won't think about that right now.
Warm afternoon and evening, and good chit chat and hanging out. The boys had a session of batting practice. Dinner was eaten, I cleaned up, and then it was time for bed. Big miles day tomorrow....?
[[BIG THANKS to my mom, dad and brother for coming out and treating me (and my friends) like gold. I love you so much and am so fortunate to be stuck with such a generous and loving family :) ]]
(5.9)
-- Posted from the trail...
Location:Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
2 comments:
Good to see u saw your family and took a few days to rest a bit... A well deserved break! Hope to b able to catch u for even a day hike somehow. Any ideas on when/where?
Ham Strata shout out #2!!? So awesome!! Keep going Care- you are rocking this trail! Do you get a t-shirt at the end, or your name on a plaque? Or something that says "I hiked the AT"? If not, I'll make you something...
Love from Lala land- Sar
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