After the Rain (ECT Day 97)

• Hiked Today: 15.8 miles

  • Appalachian Trail (109.6 – 125.4)

• Total Hiked: 2,049.9 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: 50 – 65°F, rain storm beginning day, foggy for a bit, then nice with a bit of sun, and in the evening fog and wind and some light rain.

Elevation: 3,688 – 5,337 feet

Winding Stair Gap to Cold Spring Shelter Campsite 

So far on the journey my town stays have been worse for sleeping compared to trail. My tent feels like home now I guess. I loved the hostel, but it was completely full with hikers and I did feel a little stuffy with that many people in close quarters. There was bound to be some snoring. My little room had two pretty strong snorers going back and forth and then an occasional lighter snorer adding to the melody.

Lights were on about 6:15 am and folks were scrambling about to get ready. I had mostly packed the night before, so was in good shape. Feeling hungry and again trying to take y’all’s advice and eat more, I enjoyed some Oreos with milk thanks to a hiker called Kitchen Sink. When’s the last time you’ve had milk with your cookies? You should do it today! Delicious combo.

Breakfast At the Church 

At 7:15 am, a van showed up to the hostel to pick up hikers to bring them to the First Baptist Church in town. For 18 years they’ve been hosting an AT hiker breakfast. I was excited to be a part of it and experience their hospitality. We crammed 11 hikers and packs into the van. It was a tight fit. Once at the church, we found there were more AT hikers that had stayed elsewhere in town too.

It was such a wonderful time accepting their generous gift of making and serving breakfast. I got to sit at a table with Ashton, Logan, and Kermit as well as life long member and the church leader for this whole thing, Patsy. She was great and at one point gave a talk about how the whole thing got started. She also told us about the food, saying, “Go back, go back, go back… if you leave hungry, it’s your fault.”

We didn’t each get an AT designed giant pancake… this one was just put for display. Although, now I’m thinking I should’ve asked if I could’ve gone for it.

The amazing chef and serving crew!

On top of delicious pancakes, crispy bacon (cooked well done just how I like it), homemade strawberry jam, hot coffee, and orange juice, they had little “survival” kits for hikers that had a lighter, chapstick, and Q-tips. There was a large banner for the class of 2025 to sign. And, they had letter writing materials for us so we could write home and tell someone we made it safely 110 miles on the AT. Very sweet.

Getting Back on Trail 

The first shuttle headed back to trail around 8:15 am but was full. I was quite ok with this though. The rain was still doing its thing, but appeared it’d lighten after 9:00 am, so with the newly scheduled shuttle I figured I might just miss it. I hung out with Adam, Jack, Boston Beacon, Camel, and Check Point while waiting. Then, we all piled in when the van returned and drove out of town.

I was stretching out at Winding Stair Gap a little before 9:30 am and the rain had nearly stopped! After only a few minutes, I took the rain coat off despite still getting some drops.

The hike until lunch break was similar to what I’ve been experiencing. Nice trail, good amount of up and down, but nothing too strenuous. There were a few steep sections with stairs, some of which were big that kind of sucked, but overall it was good stuff. The main characteristics that stood out to me were the amount of people (since so many had gotten off at Winding Stair Gap to shelter from the storm) and also the amount of water. The trickling streams had been transformed to white water cascades, crashing down the mountain and often overtop and onto the trail.

Making our way back to trail.

Lots of puddles, although for the most part I kept my feet dry

“So Many Stairs!” – Angry Hulk in Avengers: Endgame when they don’t let him take the elevator 😅

I walked and talked some with Jason who’s one of several in a group with Warrior Expeditions. He started with a group of veterans and they stick together for the first four days to get going, but after that they do their own thing or stay grouped up however they want. It sounded like a really great program and it was nice chatting with him. Another member in the group, Rebecca (I think), and her dog Duke came for a bit too. I’d leap frog with them most of the day.

At lunch I got to a high point and sat with Logan and Ashton. Here’s my “healthy” lunch…

Those are some leafy greens. And I got red pepper hummus and fried onions for a little crunchy crunch.

The post-lunch hike was me mostly uphill to reach Wayah Bald, which I discovered had a giant stone tower on top and excellent views!

Check Point, Jason, Rebecca and Duke, and I were hanging out up the tower taking a break.

As we were hanging, someone comes up the tower stairs. Right away I recognize him and he does a double take towards me. I stupidly say, “Hey, I know you.” Sure enough, it’s Ranger Dan who I met in Southern California on the PCT in 2019. That’s also the last time I saw him until now although we’re connected via the social medias. But yeah, totally random. He was there to pick up a hiker friend to bring to town.

Ok also… maybe we’re long lost twins???

Things were getting chilly at this point. It was forecasted to be cold overnight and apparently the temps were starting to drop. Thus, I didn’t stay long up there and got a moving ahead of the others. This was good for me too. As much fun as I’ve been having meeting folks and talking, today I was a little overwhelmed for the first time and was looking for some space. It helps that most folks on this trail are staged at camp around 4:00 pm, which leaves those hours afterwards free for some solo trekking.

At 4:15 pm, I came across this wonderful sight!

A bit further at the random Burningtown Gap, I found yet another great setup of food for hikers. A hiker called Holy Shit from the 2023 AT class brought his two friends Big Head and Joey. They all came from Louisiana for the week (or until the food runs out they joked) just to do this. Amazing.

They were quick to find a chair for me by the fire where another hiker, Joker, was already hanging. More hikers joined while I was sitting. I got served a heaping bowl of jambalaya (with four different meats in there) and then another. It was fun talking with them but I pulled myself away to get hiking up to Cold Spring Shelter.

Another privy experience… This one had a pretty good lean going downhill. Also not sure why this photo looks so distorted.

Rain started again in the evening and I had a weird situation that’s never happened to me. The wind was coming sideways and blowing the tent fly right into me. With it touching the main tent, the water just started dripping right inside. I was frustrated and got out to re-stake it. That helped, but I had to soak up the water with my bandana too. I also brought in some random items to try and create distance from my sleeping bag and the side of the tent. It seemed the water issues were once again kept at bay!

There is a good chance I’ll be falling behind on my daily postings due to remote trail and Jack of cell service… fear not, we shall continue this journey!

Album of the Day:

“Fifteen” (2017) – The Wailin’ Jennys

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