Week 9

6/6 Cove Mtn Shelter 755, left to start hiking after 5pm.

6/7 Thunder Hill Shelter 772, complete with thunder.

6/8 Glasgow Town Shelter 787, shelter set up and run by the town, with hot water and electricity.

6/9 Brown Mtn Creek Shelter 807, arrived in the rain and squeezed in.

6/10 Camped at the us 60 road crossing 809, after spending the day in Buena Vista (pronounced locally as 'byuna', rhyming with tuna). 2 months passing

6/11 Seeley-Woodworth Shelter 823, stopped early to stay dry. Cookie challenge day 1.

6/12 Reid's gap/ Devil's backbone brewery 845, A lot of day hikers today, Crashed a bachelor party, Cookie Challenge day 2

This week I really shelter-hopped a lot. Even when I went to town, I stayed at a shelter. The town of Glasgow provides a free shelter for hikers, complete with showers and electricity right behind an italian restaurant. I heard from a past thru-hiker; that before tents got so light it was more common for hikers to just not bring one and rely on the shelters. Most shelters only fit 6, and get shared with section hikers and weekenders too. There were fewer thru-hikers, but I'm sure it got tight in the shelters some nights. Almost all shelters are near water, most have camping space nearby, and they hold the hiker logbooks. I've been enjoying writing funny entries in the logbook, and reading ahead to see who is near me on the trail. Its a type of one directional communication that only goes behind you, so no telling what the response will be. 

Its been cloudy all week, with short thunderstorms some days, and rain all through Friday night. I got soaked as I was approaching the Brown mtn shelter on Wednesday. Before the rain it had been really hot, so it was refreshing to hike through without a rain-jacket. A little less refreshing putting on wet clothes the next morning, but I was able to go to town with triple-H and use a dryer at the laundromat. Staying dry out of the heat is a great morale boost, so on Friday I cut short my plans and spent a whole afternoon in a shelter to reserve my spot. Worth it. The next shelter got full early, and I would have had to set up my tent in the rain.

The trail has a bunch of fun challenges for when hiking all day doesn't push you enough. One of them is the "One Item Resupply" challenge. For a section of at least 3 days the idea is to buy only one type of food. Fun to think about what food you would choose to have for 3 days alone. No flavour variety or extras allowed. On top of that; hiking requires eating a lot more of it than usual, it has to be carried, and it should last a few days unrefrigerated. I chose Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies, and I might never eat them again this whole hike. Its over when I get to Waynesboro tomorrow, and I'm at the point where they've all crumbled to a bag of bits, and my motivation to eat is dropping fast.

Shanendoahs here I come!