Appalachian Trail: Day 58
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
Today was a milestone day. I hit the 1/4 waypoint of the trail. It was also a quiet day as I was mostly hiking alone.
I did run into some other hikers when I got to the Settlers Museum. They have an old one room schoolhouse where they had some trail magic setup. Fire Squirrel was there along with an older hiker named Rope. I hung out for a while enjoying the snacks and company before continuing on my hike.
A little past the 1/4 waypoint is a hostel called the Quarter Way Inn. It was weird when I got there. There were no other hikers and the host wasn't around. They had helpful signs that indicated the steps to take and where things were at. So, ai checked in, got a shower, put my clothes in the bucket for laundry and started to figure out dinner when the host finally appeared. As I had just resupplied in Marion and this hostel stay wasn't planned, dinner ended up being a meal from my food bag.
Turns out I was the only hiker staying there overnight. Weird to be the only hiker in a hostel. It was a very quiet night, but I was able to get all of my electronics finally fully charged.
I also was able to step in the scale at the hostel and see that I have dropped about 35 lbs from my starting weight. That is about what my pack weighs depending on how much food and water I am carrying. The difference is obvious in the mirror too. Not quite where I want to be yet, but definitely on my way. And I still got 3/4 of the trail to hike to lose weight.