Miles: 368 | Waking up to fresh snow tested my patience in a big way — I was beyond done with being cold. A nearby hostel became the motivation we needed, pulling us forward through a fast, frozen day. Hot showers, diner food, and the promise of warmth felt like pure luxury, even as the noise and stimulation wore on me. Wrapped in blankets, watching trail movies late into the night, I felt grateful for shelter — and still woke up cold, reminded that comfort on trail is always temporary.
We woke up to three inches of snow. Thankfully it insulated the tent a little. I was not enthused about hiking this day. I was SO SICK OF BEING COLD. It took me forever to pack up. I slowly drank my Breakfast Essential.
We looked ahead at the map. We saw a hostel up ahead that had indoor rooms we could be there tonight and get a warm bed! We walked quickly, looking forward to the warmth and town food. We walked with Mike for a bit. Soon, Mean Spaghetti caught up to us and joined our train. Around 4pm we finally made it to the hostel.
When we arrived Connie, the owner, ushered us to the bathroom to wash our hands. Must avoid NoroVirus on the trail! After we washed our hands she showed us to or bunks and we put our packs down.
We showered right away. After our shower she gave us a menu of a diner that we could order food from when she takes us to town.
I sat and blogged for a bit in my room while Maverick showered. Around 6pm Connie called in our food orders and we all piled into her Suburban to go to town. She took us to the Dollar General and the diner and then back to the hostel. The hostel was pretty high energy and, once again, there was consistently a TV on in the background. I felt a bit overwhelmed there.
We sat at the kitchen table and ate our diner food. We met two Georgia ATC volunteers that were section hiking who ate with us. We talked about the trail, the mental game, and the future of the trail. We also talked to them about their plan for the next week. We were realizing that camping on Roan Mountain the next night would not be wise in the cold weather. The section hikers suggested we do a short day tomorrow to avoid too much elevation gain and snow. They suggested Ash Gap. They were also going there.
After dinner we went back to the indoor bunk room which was ‘heated’. It had its own TV and a whole DVD collection. Since we weren’t tired yet and the living room was loud we decided to put on a movie. We watched Zoolander for some funny background noise. I used the WiFi to order a new pack with a smaller hip belt, a sleeping pad like Maverick’s that might actually work, and a new pack liner. When the movie ended the people in the living room still hadn’t gone to bed yet. It was 11pm. No one else was sleeping in the indoor bunk room so we put on Wild. Wild captivated me. I had forgotten all about that movie. It was so cool to watch it from the point of view of an actual thru-hiker. The people in the living room eventually went to bed around 12:30am. Exhausted, we turned off the TV and did the same.
In the middle of the night I woke up cold. I got up to see that their wood stove didn’t have a fire in it anymore. No one was awake and I didn’t know where Connie went. Annoyed, and cold, I went back to bed.