Slept really well with a full belly and got a good night of sleep. Woke up early at 5am to get an early jump on the trail since we were 12 miles out of town.
After 7 miles we made it to the last shelter outside of Waynesboro and took a short break. Balls and Sunshine showed up a few minutes later. We had seen them the night before when we were waiting for pizza. A pretty impressive father/daughter team. They had hiked the PCT already, and were already this far into the AT after having just started on April 2! We started almost a whole month earlier. They are quick hikers, and Sunshine is on track to be the youngest person to triple crown at only 12 years old. Pretty impressive!
Got into town and did laundry, free showers at the local YMCA (pretty sweet deal), and ate (I mean stuffed myself) at the delicious Chinese buffet. Met up with Tarzan and we all headed to the outfitter so Coffee could get new boots. After talking with the guys working at the outfitter, found out one of them went to Ball State and until 6 years ago, owned a restaurant in Kokomo, IN. Small world! Just before we left and they closed, I thought to leave my gear that I couldn't travel with, at the outfitter. They were cool with it and boxed my stuff up with my name on it and put it in the stockroom for me to pick up when I get back.
LOL drove us over to the hotel we would be staying at with Tarzan's aunt and uncle who are in town to hike Shenandoah with him for a few days, but not before going to Starbucks and using her employee benefit to score me a free packet of VIA instant packets! So maybe section hikers aren't all that bad after all ;). Kinda jealous of those two heading off to Trail Days (a huge hiker bash) in Damascus for the weekend. Soon enough Jim and Karen showed up and we headed to dinner in downtown Waynesboro at The Green Leaf Grill. Great food and beer, and a really nice treat from Jim and Karen! Stopped at Walmart on the way back to the hotel to get some beer, chocolate milk, and other goodies.
What a great past few days with some fun folks! Turns out days that start and sometimes linger on as being kinda crappy, can turn out to be really good times in the end, and days I'll remember for a long time! Thanks to all those who made it a great time!
Heading off the trail for 5 days to head to Wisconsin for my sister's graduation from dental school. It's a little tough and odd to get off the trail for a few days, but definitely something I want to do and am looking forward to! Get to see the family and some friends, which is going to be great. Will also be interesting to see who I end up seeing on the trail when I hop back on next Monday or Tuesday.
Dude....that beard is getting insane!!!
ReplyDeletethe last picture made me lol. imagine that. :)
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