The mice struck last night, luckily they targeted one of the other hikers. They weren’t after food this time, they were after warmth. They snuck up and chewed a hole in his sleeping bag. He’s short a few down feathers now and his bag is in need of a patch.
Today was reasonably short, with a planned stop at Winding Stair Gap to head in to Franklin and resupply. I made it to U.S. 64 around 1115 and at 1130 a shuttle to Baltimore Jack’s rolled up out of the blue. I still haven’t had to hitchhike to get around off the trail, though I expect I will eventually I do appreciate how accommodating everyone in the area is to thru-hikers. Baltimore Jack is a hiker hostel so I boarded the shuttle and bought a bed for two nights once we arrived. The hostel was decent, a hot shower and the coin laundry got me feeling pretty clean and human again.
Once I had clean pants again I struck out for The Lazy Hiker half a mile down the road to have dinner and a couple beers. My feet are starting to feel pretty sore and bruised on a regular bases and since I’ve made it over a hundred miles I think a zero day is called for. I’ll resupply tomorrow, try to find some headphones at Walmart, and generally take it easy for the day.
Day 12 Mileage: 7.2 mi [Long Branch Shelter -> Winding Stair Gap]
Total Mileage: 117.7 mi