May 8

May 8 AT 2024, Day 9: Unscheduled Kumbaya

Roo Giordano

Sketching, roulette, long distance hiking

Scarlet Tanager making it easy for me to spot today.

Day 9, Monday, 5.8.2024

Start: M. 605.1, Creekside Stealth Site

End: M. 625.8, Woods Hole Hostel

Miles Hiked: 20.7

Total Miles: 123.4

Elevation Gain: 4,060 feet

New moon tonight.

I was on trail by 6:43 am, but not because I was planning to hike over 20 miles and not because I was planning to stay at Woods Hole Hostel.

Someone else hikes like me…

It just worked out that way when, once again, the group from Colorado got to the spot I’d planned to camp in before I did. Looks like I’m going to have to unsync from them somehow since we seem to have the same approach to hiking: start early, end early, get to the nice spot before anyone else.

Pink Azaleas perfuming the air all day today.

Durston sucks, IMO

But also, I ran into Badger at lunch at the Wapiti Shelter who told me it was going to rain buckets tonight and, did I mention, my new fancy-ass Durston tent SUCKS in the rain?

The condensation is off the charts in general.

Puddles form in one corner of the thing in heavy rain.

And rivulets run down the screen in heavy rain.

It’s not ideal for AT conditions (i.e. rain) and I’ve already asked Ralph to send my my beloved Gossamer Gear The Two DCF tent (which they only made for a hot minute, but which is a veritable Taj Mahal that DOES. NOT. LEAK!

One day I’m going to swim in this place. But not today.

Dismal Falls

I had breakfast in a light sprinkle at Dismal Falls, where I sketched and watched a man fly fishing in the pool below the falls. Such a beautiful spot with big water crashing over the ledge to a deep swimming hole below. It made me wish I was one of those wild swimming people who strip naked and go into every remotely accessible body of water at all times of the year. Sometimes they wear wool beanies. It’s a British thing.

It really is a lovely place .7 miles off trail.

Woods Hole, good except for that one woo woo thing they do…

Lots of people loooove Woods Hole Hostel and it is in a beautiful setting with a great porch and outdoor dining area. I took a semi-private room (shared with two other hikers, one of them Badger who probably thinks I’m stalking him, now. I’m not.). They make breakfast and dinner for hikers, which is a bonus since it’s in the middle of nowhere.

But they also make everyone join in the kumbaya moment before meals. You know. Stand in a circle and say what you’re grateful for (bandaids, coffee) before they let you dig into Mexican lasagna and salad and, tonight, raw bread.

I’m just not the kumbaya type, though I tried in my younger years. It just didn’t take.