Day 88: Gentian Pond Shelter

Start: Rattle River Hostel (AT mi 1895). Stop: Gentian Pond Shelter (AT mi 1906.6). Today’s miles: 11.6 miles. Total AT mileage: 881.9 miles

I got super hot in that upper bunk, but I made the best of it-ignored the snorers and early risers, and slept in until 6:45. Every single person in that bunk room had an alarm that went off between 5am and 6:30am. None of them were quiet like my nice little watch vibrating alarm..

I went downstairs and got some breakfast prepared by one of the hostel employees. She made monkeybread that was damn good. Plus I had some hash browns and fresh watermelon and blueberries. I could have had the all you can eat pancakes, but honestly I was too lazy to make them.. haha! I spotted a scale after I ate my big breakfast, but got on it anyway.. I’m down 30 pounds! And that’s with a full stomach! Whoa, thanks trail gods! It’s nice to see some reflection of the hard work I’ve been putting in.

I packed up my gear and was sitting outside updating the blog. Once I got it all up and posted, I started putting my shoes on. That was when a man walked outside from the hostel and did a little double take. I didn’t recognize him, but he seemed to recognize me.. come to find out, it was Flicker, a hiker that started following my blog through a series of friend’s of friends.. small world! We had been hoping we’d cross paths, originally thinking I’d be ahead, but then realizing I was behind after my 8 zeros.. and yet-here we are. Same place, same time!

I got a quick hug in and he ran back inside, I thought he was coming to the same shelter I was hiking to, so I went ahead and started walking. It was already a little after 8am and the terrain in the Whites was so awful that I assumed it would continue today, too, even though I technically completed all of the Whites when I got to the hostel yesterday. The unknown was making me anxious, and I really didn’t want to be getting to a full shelter after 7pm when it was supposed to be raining all night. Been there, done that-hated it.

So, I started the road walk from the hostel, expecting Flicker to catch me. I got a text saying he had already done this part, so I was sad I headed out so fast and missed chatting with him. The road walk crossed a bridge with a beautiful river to the right and a dam to the left. Then the trail turned to a dirt road for a bit before turning into the woods.

I listened to some music for awhile, then switched to an audiobook. Today’s choice: “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.” It was recommended to me by Cholula at the start of the trail, but my Libby app just made it available. For the record, it’s been incredible. Well, the book and the app, too.

The trail into the woods was beautiful. Wooded with pine needles padding the ground making it soft and spongy. I had a feeling it wouldn’t last, every curve had me looking for my obstacle course. To my much needed surprise, it maintained its calm terrain almost all day! There were climbs, there were descents, there were muddy bogs-but none of it felt like the mountaineering of the Whites. I was utterly shocked all day that my good fortune was lasting so long! Even when it started sprinkling in the afternoon, my mood stayed grateful and happy.

I got to a false summit after 11am and decided to go ahead and eat my lunch. I packed out my pizza (and ranch) I didn’t finish last night and had been thinking about it for at least an hour by this point. It was so peaceful sitting up on a rocky wannabe summit, staring off into the distance of beautiful mountains, with not a soul around to disturb it or me. I must have sat there for close to an hour. My breaks in the Whites were never longer than 30 minutes tops-and that was rare to even be that long-since I knew the terrain was going to take me all day to get anywhere anyway.

I got some water and sat a bit sometime mid afternoon, just listening to my book and watching the creek water flow. The relaxing parts of today has made it absolutely wonderful again. I’ve missed this. Being able to have the time to soak in my surroundings without feeling panicked and rushed.

I made it to the shelter just before 5pm. There was the NOBO hiker that had been leapfrogging me all day, plus 3 SOBO hikers, someone asleep in the shelter already so I have no idea who they are or which direction they’re headed, and a sweet man from Georgia out doing a section hike. He and I talked about me joining the Appalachian Trail Club for GA when I get finished, which sounds pretty interesting. He told me all about the great work they do while we sat around and eventually made dinner. Then, a NOBO flip flop couple I had also been leapfroging with today got to the shelter, too.

Now, it’s almost 7pm, and everyone is a little irritated it’s not pouring down rain like the forecast promised. It sounds funny to be mad about that, but there’s 8 of us in a shelter that would all have preferred to set up tents. Some had even planned to hike further, but the terror that is packing a wet tent was too real a threat and we all, in one way or another, decided to play it safe tonight.

I think I’m going to pop in my ear plugs and see if sleep will come early for me. Mainly because there is already someone snoring and it’s getting cold. There’s really nothing else to do but either sleep or stare around at each other since some are already asleep. Tomorrow I have less than 10 miles to get to the next planned shelter, and the best part is that I’ll be crossing the border into Maine! WAHOO!

I pray the terrain is much like today, because the day after tomorrow will be a difficult one.. it will be less than 10 miles to town, but it’s going to probably take me all day to do. It’s a big boulder field that requires climbing over, under, and through huge rocks-known to drop even the fastest people’s paces down to half a mile an hour. Hahaha I can’t even begin to imagine how slow that means it’ll be for me. Only one way to find out.. and thankfully I don’t have to find out tomorrow! Lol

Sweet dreams, y’all!