After we left Wapati shelter, the trail was virtually deserted today. We only saw one hunter out scouting for the weekend. We must have passed the South bubble yesterday. We did pass through a few more burnt areas from what appeared to be ground burns; not damaging the trees but burning off the floor. Usually what you’d expect to see from a controlled burn.
By pushing on past Dismal Falls yesterday, we cut the amount we had to hike today down considerably. When we were in Portland making plans to return to this section in VA, I called Neville to make reservations for a stay at Woods Hole Hostel. We had a fairly easy 7 mile walk with just one easy climb of about 1000’ to get there. We got in before lunch time.
I, being the good husband, of which I get so little credit for, had made reservations for a queen-sized bedroom in the house instead of the bunkhouse. The bunkhouse is nice, but I remembered it was an old, converted tool shed that didn’t have insulation. Plus, we’d have an inside heated shower. It never really got warm today.
Neville greeted us, but didn’t really remember me from my last stay. To be fair, she has over 1000 hikers stay every season and I am Easily Forgotten. We had hot tea and a few snacks before we got cleaned up and took a tour of the place. There weren’t many hikers in the place, maybe 3, and two other women staying at the B&B.
We had the communal supper and chatted with everyone. After supper while we were cleaning the kitchen, Neville decided to look up when I stayed before. I told her I had stayed the same time Little Blue was here. HE, she remembered. We tried looking up my name, but no record for me existed. We then looked up Little Blue, found the date and then searched that date. She found me then, sort of. She had listed me as “Almost Forgotten.”
EFG
Since we are almost done, I want to focus a little more on the people we met than the places we’ve been and things we’ve done.
Today’s List
The Happiest People We Met on the Trail:
Neesha—technically, we didn’t meet her on the trail, she is the daughter of a friend of mine from college that we spent 3 days with in NJ. She always looks on the bright side of any situation and even has her own blog promoting happiness…smile4awhile
Mizman—when I first met Mizman, I was convinced he was a serial killer because he was so happy and positive; nobody is like that. After spending a few hours with him, it’s easy to see he’s genuine. He is happy to be alive and only sees the good in every situation. He likes to take his time and enjoy every minute on the trail. That’s why he’s up and moving by the crack of 10 every day. When he fell behind everyone, he flipped up and started hiking sobo so he could see everyone again.
Fresh Grounds—a trail legend. We met him the first day he was out giving magic to thru-hikers. He spends 6 months a year traveling up and down the AT fixing meals for thru-hikers. This is his mission from God, to comfort hikers. He turned his life around from being a drug addict. He’s seen the dark side of life and wants to be a source of light now.
Little Blue—It took us until almost Uncle Johnny’s before we met Little Blue even though we knew everyone he was hiking with. I can’t remember a time I didn’t see Little Blue laughing or sucking on his skittles vape. We could always tell if he was ahead or behind us on the trail because we could hear the laughing around him.
Patches—We Met Patches our second day on the trail. She came into our shelter after dark. We knew she was on her way because of some other people in the shelter had seen her. We had gotten magic in the form of a 12 pack, so we kept a couple back for her. I was worried about a young woman coming into the shelter by herself with all the farting and belching. When she got in, she found the beers. The first sound I remember hearing from her was a belch…she’ll be fine. We hiked with Patches until just before Shenandoah. She always had a smile on her face. I gave her a lot of crap just to see if she ever had a breaking point—she didn’t.