Snail Mail: What’s in the West Wing? It’s Forbidden!

Day 34: April 6th –> Good Friday

I was really wanting to get to Kincora Hostel early (which was about 16 miles away) because Ringo was returning to the trail, and his girlfriend (and my good friend) was finally meeting up with the group to start the trail! Kristin and Jake (Slacky Feet and Ringo) both worked at Eckerd Youth Alternatives with me in North Carolina. Eckerd is a year-round outdoor therapeutic youth program for troubled teens. Long story short: it was one of those jobs where you definitely get close with the people you work with, sharing both your successes and challenging times. I had not seen Slacky Feet in almost 2 years and was pumped for our reunion.

I left the shelter at 6:00 am completely bundled up with my buff covering everything on my face but my eyes. It was cold! There’s a good chance that the precipitation hitting my face was snowflakes, but it was still dark outside and my mind refused to acknowledge that fact. My hike today was quick and uneventful except for on thing, and I apologize if some of you don’t wish to hear it, but I’m going to say it. It was cold and wet, and I had to pee. I held it as long as I could, but finally had to find a good “pop-a-squat” location. Because it was so cold, I refused to take off my pack and set it on the wet ground. So today was my debut of peeing with my pack on! It could have ended really badly, but I’m happy to say my ability to pee with 35 lbs on my back is up to par. The whole thing was a success, and Fievel and Slacky Feet are very impressed with the technique!

Rundown barn just before reaching Kincora Hostel.

Moving on. I arrived at Kincora Hostel, outside of Hampton, TN, around 1:00 pm. Kincora Hostel is ran by Bob Peoples, who is another legend of the Appalachian Trail. Not only has he had Kincora Hostel open for almost 2 decades, but he also does heaps of maintenance on the trail and is heavily involved in organizing volunteer groups to work on the trail throughout the year. His hostel has always been a “freewill donation” which always helps the seriously budgeted thru-hikers.

I was the 1st to arrive at Kincora and when I told Bob there was a group of us hiking together, he mentioned that we should take advantage of the West Wing! Having watched Beauty and the Beast many times in my life, I asked “what’s in the West Wing?” Bob Peoples did not respond like the Beast did, but told me it was a separate little cabin out back that sleeps up to 6 people, has electricity, a couch, and a table! “It sounds perfect! I’ll take it!”

The whole group finally got back together and Ringo’s mom brought us some snacks and beer. Unfortunately the hostel was dry so we had to send the beer back, but it was the thought that counts. Ringo and Slacky Feet arrived just in time to catch the shuttle to town. The shuttle consists of Bob loading up the back of his truck and driving the 15-20 minutes to town down the mountain. He makes this trip twice a day for hikers and at one point there were about 16 hikers crammed in there! It was interesting! We enjoyed the luxuries of town and devoured some Arbys and Little Caesars, and then got the supplies we needed.

That night in the “West Wing” was like an adult slumber party. There was absolutely no alcohol involved, but lots of sugar and caffeine! Activities ranged from numerous card games, crazy story telling, and sharing with Slacky Feet all the crazy moments of the trail. There were crazy amounts of laughing going on and we stayed up ’til after midnight (which is crazy late for a hiker).

The next morning Fievel and I went in the common room to have breakfast of bagels, strawberry cream cheese, and lots of coffee! Bob was in the kitchen and said if our group was interested, he would slackpack us for the day. Since it was a huge mountain to climb, and it was Slacky Feet’s 1st day, we were pretty pumped for our 1st day of slackpacking. That also meant that we could have another night in the “West Wing”.

We ended up doing about 9 miles with delightfully light backpacks. There was ALOT of climbing so we were especially grateful for a day of slackpacking. It was a weekend and a popular spot on the trail because of Laurel Falls, so there were a lot of other people out hiking.

Kristin’s 1st day on the trail as we “Slackpacked” the 9 miles of Laurel Falls area

Group and a horse…

Me and a horse….it nibbled on me…so I must have smelled lovely.

Kristin, “Slacky Feet”, first blister bandaging party. Fievel (the expert) showed her how its done.

Group photo on our amazing slackpacking day (packs weighed less then 5 lbs.)

Hiking in action picture

Me and Laurel Falls

Back at the hostel that night we caught up with a lot of our hiker friends who had just arrived. The hostel actually filled up fast, so we invited Avatar and Chia Pet to crash in the West Wing with us since there was plenty of floor space and an empty couch. Our evening was NOT a crazy slumber party this time, but our morning wake-up included some jock jams. Chia Pet was definitely entertained.

Happy Easter! Our entire group decided to join Bob at his Church for Easter service. There were 8 hikers in total who went and stuck out like a sore thumb in our assorted hiker clothes! I was SO cold that morning that I was wearing everything I had: thermals, shorts, hiking pants, rain pants, tank top, long-sleeve shirt, fleece vest, and rain jacket. However, once we squeezed 8 hikers in a church pew, I quickly became overheated. So I asked Ringo: “do you think it would be okay if I took my rain pants off right now?” And Slacky Feet overheard and responded “of course, then you can check it off your bucket list.” So yes, I have officially taken my pants off in church. Check.

We were all happy to be able to go to Church on Easter Sunday and the congregation was very welcoming to us dirty hikers. Afterwards Bob swung by Burger King before dropping us on the trail and Fievel and I got a delicious breakfast platter to share…and then we attempted hiking on full bellies!