Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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June 26, Rod Hollow Shelter - mile 973.8

WOW! I'm amazed that I am here tonight, feeling fine, after 20 miles of walking today. Only 19 were trail miles, though, & the terrain was relatively easy today, which is the only reason I made it this far. The extra mile was to get an early dinner at a restaurant at one of today's road crossing. I ran into 2 guys on the trail, Maine-iac and Long Stride, who said they were going there. & it sounded good to may hungry stomach so I tagged along. We had to walk almost the entire .8 mile there - we had our thumbs out the whole time & an SUV finally stopped about 30 seconds drive away! We didn't realize we were so close or we would have quit with the thumbs. we had some great tasting greasy bacon cheeseburgers & chocolate shakes, made a phone call each & then headed back to the trail. This time the hitch came a little quicker & saved us at least half a mile of uphill road walk in the 90* heat! It was a hikers favorite hitch - a pickup with a large bed, only his had a lawn mower loaded into it. But we didn't even blink, after all. we'd been thumbing everything from convertibles to dump trucks! If it had wheels, we'd take a ride. So we piled in around the lawn mower & hung on to various parts of it (I had the seat) for the lovely ride back. It's hard to imagine how I'll cope when I have my own car to get around in, after 6 months of foot & thumb travel.

Now I'm here at the shelter, which is another very nice one, if not quite the Hilton. I had such a horrible night's sleep at the Hilton that I'm back to the tent tonight. Between the crowds & the bugs, I got almost no rest until I abandoned the shelter & moved out onto the patio. There I just had the bugs to deal with. I couldn't believe my eyes when a family of five arrived at 8:45 & nearly demanded to have space in the shelter because they had just walked an extra 5 1/2 miles to get there, so they wouldn't have to tent. The last shelter they came past (they were hiking south) had bad rats & a nest of copperheads in the fireplace, so they decided not to stay. Most people who stay there simply tent away from the shelter, but they had only brought a 4 person tent, so they didn't want to do that. As I laid in my bag listening to the story, I was absolutely amazed. What kind of family goes back-packing in the utter height of thru-hiking season, expecting to find shelter space & not bringing a big enough tent in case there wasn't? When I came past the shelter today that they had stopped at, I saw that it would have only fit about 5 people under normal circumstances. Did they think they could just arrive with that many people & dominate the whole shelter? I guess they did. I must sound bitter as I write, & I think I am a little aggravated. Common courtesy usually dictates quiet after 8 P.M. at a shelter - and these folks rustled around with plastic bags & backpacks until at least 10:00. Then the 2 boys piled in next to me & the one snored all night in my ear & the other whimpered in his sleep. Around midnight, I couldn't take it any more & dragged my bag & pad out onto the patio. Much better!