06/07

We decided it was best not to sit around the crack house all day. Instead, we took advantage of our accommodations and opted to slack pack. That basically means we leave our full packs behind and only carry food and water in a day bag. Our shuttle driver dropped us off at the trailhead, about 13 miles north, and we hiked south back to our home base.

In theory, a lighter pack means a more comfortable hike. While we were definitely moving faster, I don’t know that “comfortable” is the word I’d use. About half an hour in, the sky opened up. Our streak of sunshine was over, and the rain came fast. Since we were slack packing, we didn’t bring our rain gear. We were soaked through to our socks in minutes.

The trail turned into a mud slip-and-slide that slowed us down more than we’d hoped. Still, I’m glad we slack packed this stretch. The 13 miles were some of the most uneventful we’ve had. Just trees. A long tunnel of green. No views, no landmarks, just a couple of newts enjoying the weather.

We made it back to where we left off yesterday in decent time. Thirteen miles in a little over five hours. Our driver picked us up and took us to the local diner for take out, before dropping us back off at the house. We sat outside to avoid the smell of rotting god knows what, and I ate my chicken parm sub and a couple of unimpressive cannolis. To be fair, I wasn’t expecting the Italian food in “Bland, VA” to beat Mom’s cooking.

An hour or so into the evening we heard banging on the basement door. My immediate thought was, must be the killer. Pocket knife in hand, we went down to check it out. We unlatched the door and found two new hikers standing outside. Apparently Nick had locked them out.

“Welcome to our humble abode,” we said, waving them into the dark, damp basement. As they walked past, my eyes watered.  I couldn’t help but wonder… is that what we smell like?