Miles: 4
Steps: 25,286
Calories:1816
Avg BG: 127
I have been putting off writing about this day – it was the day that Ready got off the trail.
The day started out bitterly cold – both of the water bottles left in my tent vestibule were frozen solid. I managed to get a cup of coffee prepared – but chose not to prepare a hot breakfast. We only had a 4 mile hike to Deep Gap where we were going to be picked up by a shuttle. It was an easy hike out to the Forest Service Road. Colin Gooder (aka Zen) of Gooder Grove Hostel picked us up just as the snow started. He asked if we were ok making a stop on the way to the hostel per the request of some other hikers staying at the hostel. Turns out, Roadrunner, SpiceRack, Wardrobe, and Atticus were nearby and heading back to the hostel! Just when we thought we would never see them again – we got to spend another evening with them! We couldn’t have been happier to see them. We were like little puppies in our excitement and climbing into the van together. Serpent sat on the laps of Ready, Roadrunner, and me in the back seat. Wardrobe and SpiceRack were in the back of the hatchback area on top of the packs. But, we made it to the hostel!
In typical fashion when reaching town, the first stop is to get food. Ready, Serpent, and I headed to a restaurant on Main St. It was here that Ready told us his dad was driving from Buffalo, NY to pick him up with an ETA of 11 pm that evening. Ready had booked a hotel room for his dad and, that afternoon, Ready would head over to the hotel.
We had a couple errands to run before heading back to the hostel – a new pack for me and more handwarmers. I had been having difficulty with my pack – I was carrying too much weight for the design of the pack and the shoulder straps were constantly slipping. Indeed, the prior day one of the straps had come completely separated. Ready did a great job of tying the straps for me so that they wouldn’t slip – but that also meant that I could no long adjust them. It was time to get a different pack that could handle the weight I was carrying. Below is a video of Ready working on the strap – my face says it all – I was so frustrated by this!
Ready in action, tying my straps – me with an exasperated expression!
We stopped at the outfitter on Main Street to look at packs. The vendor has multiple packs and I commented that it would be great to load them up to see how they felt when weighted down. The owner told me to go get my current pack with all my equipment and I could load up the pack to see fit – both on my body as well as with my gear. But, before heading back to the hostel, we went in search of handwarmers at the Dollar General down the street.
As we approached the store, looking a little lost as we also were looking for another store, a local asked if she could help us find something. Serpent was bold – she said that we were looking for handwarmers at the DG and then heading back to our hostel – would the woman be so kind as to give us a ride back to the hostel? Well, in a small town, everyone knows everyone. Turns out this woman works helping the homeless and Zen would house homeless folks when his business wasn’t full. She happily took us back to the hostel after she picked up what she needed at the DG. Unfortunately, DG was out of handwarmers, so we headed back to the hostel empty-handed. But, wouldn’t you know, about an hour later, she showed up at the hostel with 2 large packages of handwarmers that she gave to us! Trail magic – the trail provides.
Meanwhile, Ready had contacted a shuttle to drive him to the hotel where he was to meet his dad later that night. It was about 3pm that afternoon that we said “so long” to Ready. He assured us that he would get back on the trail and section hike and that he would support us through NJ and NY. Tears were shed that day. Many times in the following days, Serpent and I would comment that “I wish Ready were here to see this.” We have kept in contact with Ready and do hope that we will see him again on the trail.
Welcome to My AT Adventure 