Dry, Clean and Beyond

The day after my last post finally had the sun come out. It was awesome. I was a bit skeptical of how the day would go since people had been talking about how hard blood mt was going to be but in reality it was not bad at all. Nice view though (photo #1).

The best moment of the whole day was coming out of the woods and seeing Mountain Crossing sitting astride the trail. I would have taken a picture but the feeling of potential dryness did not allow for such delays. After I plunked down my money for a bunk in the hostel and laundry, wished Flash Gordon well as he pushed on and was assigned a bed by Pirate I hurriedly jumped into a shower. It was potentially the best shower ever, despite the dark basement atmosphere and oddly stained old towel given to me for drying purposes.

After that everything just felt better. Laundry and drying my gear didn't even seem like a chore. Pirate cooked us a great dinner and we donated enough money that he also cooked us blueberry pancakes in the morning. On that note, the people before us tipped a total of 23 dollars for 30 people. Needless to say, they received no breakfast whatsoever. See photo #2 for glimpse into Pirates abode. It was nice to sit on the couch and watch it hail outside, while Pirate mutters to himself about having to barbeque in this weather.

The whole group of us that have been traveling together (minus Flash) stayed at the hostel and since we have sort of developed into a regular group I feel that I should run down some names so I can mention them easier in the future. In no particular order we have; Kerry, trail name Button, who is from the UK, Greta, trail name Ultraviolet, from Iowa (maybe), Sam, trail name Bunny, from Miami, Emily, no current trail name, from somewhere, Brian and Bea, trail names Mr Incredible and Elastigirl, from Maine, Travis, no current trail name, from somewhere, Flash Gordon, real name unknown, from Connecticut, Red Fury and Highlife, real names unknown, from Michigan (maybe) and me. I realize that list means nothing but I will be referring to people by trail name and perhaps people might want some sense of background. The group so far has a great dynamic and we all get along pretty well. Almost everyone travels at very different rates so we mainly see each other in passing and in the evenings around food but it is nice to have a good group. As nice as it is currently I think it might be close to the time when it fractures into some smaller groups. It currently works because many of us are calling it a day pretty early in the day to keep our miles down while we adjust to so much walking. As that stops being necessary the faster will pull ahead and the slower will fall behind. It really only takes someone missing one night with the group and they are behind a whole day. That doesn't translate to many miles but they no longer see any of us. Flash is already 1/2 a day ahead and we only see him on his lunch breaks, if that.

This is turning into a very long post but it serves as a journal as much or more then a means of communication so it will have to do. Anyway, this morning I finally arrived at my trail name. I have accepted/help create Naked Ninja as my moniker. This came about in a rather odd way, as many trail names do. As anyone who has hiked with me knows I prefer to hike without a shirt on when it is warm despite this not at all being the norm. The first time Button saw this she said my trail name should be chip and dale after the dancers. This was quickly rejected by me as well as the rest of the group. Later the next day I came up behind her on the trail and jumped her and she amended it to ninja chip and dale, which is clearly an unacceptable mouthful. This morning I suggested that Naked Ninja would keep the sneakiness and the semi-clothed aspects of the previous suggestion but was much more pleasant to say. It was widely agreed upon and I am now know as Naked Ninja, ninja for short. This does mean that I have to participate in hike naked day, although I probably would have anyway. If your scared of such things don't hike the AT on the summer solstice.

Quick update on today's progress, I did slightly over 11 miles despite Wildcat mt completely kicking my but right in the middle of that (see photo #3 for the view on top). Went pretty well and spent a fair amount of time hiking with Ultraviolet. Was a nice change of pace to have a conversation partner as the miles drifted by. I made it to Low Gap shelter tonight at mile 43 and plan on going for a campsite on Rocky mt tomorrow, another 11+ mile day. Over half way done with Georgia and just 2.5 days out from the next town/shower. Still having a blast!