#139 Tom Floyd Shelter to Rollercoaster - Day 73: ATMM 969.2 to ATMM 996.1
I don't live my off-trail life with well-planned directions, so I’m sure as hell not going to plan myself into predictive mediocrity out here.
Everyone survived the night. The rain didn’t get us, neither did the man sleeping down the hill, nor whatever caused the ruckus that woke us late in the night.
Rain continues falling as I make my way down the mountain. Everything is wet but not to worry, this wet trail-rat will soon shower and have his fill at one or two of many breakfast options at the bottom of this mountain, for today is hostel day, restaurant day, and resupply day in the town of Front Royal.
Or it isn’t.
I miss the hostel I want to stop in near Front Royal. I can’t figure out how to get to it. It’s supposed to be five hundred steps off the Appalachian Trail. But 500 steps from where?
I see no signs for it - sometimes hostels put up information somewhere at the trailhead nearest them. There’s nothing about it in the pages of my guide. I have their phone number and address written on my map. My GPS isn’t recognizing the address and they aren’t picking up the phone or seeing my texts.
Figuring it’s just meant to be this way, I trust the trail and keep walking.
Gut Hook (the name has been recently changed to Far Out) is an app that gives you up-to-date information and locations of just about everything you need to know about any big trail you’re hiking. Like nearly everything in our brave new world, most information pertinent to the trail is being converted to digital information. There’s been a few times over the past couple of weeks where I thought about jumping on the ol’ proverbial bandwagon and downloading it for my 2023 hike - like everyone else.
I didn’t. Being an old-school-trust-the-trail hiker, I’m a bit stubborn about getting it. However, I think I’ll be forced into it for my final AT section hike in 2024.
I will get it - I won’t get it - I will get it - I won’t get it
You’ll remember from earlier stories how I despise having every second of the day planned out or every detail figured out in advance. I still long for the purity and wonder of surprise. Though there have been times on my hikes when I wished I had a little more information, the unknown has a tendency of leading me to more adventurous and unexpected experiences.
I don't live my off-trail life with well-planned directions, so I’m sure as hell not going to plan myself into predictive mediocrity out here.
But for now, I’m low on food, I stink, and I’m grungy.
Unable to find the place to resupply, shower, or do laundry - I embrace the situation and continue hiking. Let’s see what the trail has planned.
Missing the turnoff for the hostel results in a better day than I had planned.