Georgia To Maine: Day 44: Our very own hostel

Hiked 11.6 miles, staying in the original Dr Pepper's Drugstore building.

Today, just like the last few days, we started out in a dense fog. The plan was to hike the twelve miles to Atkins, resupply, do laundry and hike out. The terrain wasn't too tough, a couple decent climbs in the beginning, then a long six mile downhill. The rivers are still running high and we had a number of hairy crossings. Srocket and I made a bet on the first or second day that whichever one of us wiped out in a river first owes a round of beer. I was hopeful that I would collect today, alas Srocket remained dry through all crossings.

We've seen tons of these little guys all over the trail recently

9 AM photo

I wonder what used to be there that the tree grew around

Fog is starting to burn off!

About halfway through the morning the sun came out and burned off the fog and it turned into a beautiful day. It was prefect timing because right after the sun came out we stepped out of the woods and started walking through fields and meadows. There were a ton of apple blossoms on the trees and flowers everywhere, it smelled fantastic. We've walked through mountain meadows before, but this was our first multi mile walk through farmland and meadow.

Leaving the woods for a little while

The mud at lower altitudes was awful. It had dried out enough that it wasn't ankle deep, but was still wet enough that there was a thin slick layer on top which drastically reduced the coefficient of friction. What developed on the downhill parts was accurately described by Dip'n'sip as a 'sprinting penguin'. You sort of ran and slid at the same time while trying to maintain balance and on the rare occasion that there was a sharp turn or switchback looked like a panicked cartoon character trying to stop. I'm pretty sure I even heard the woop-woop-woop sound from cartoons in my head a couple times.

Farmland around Atkins

Old school building from the 1800s on the right

The muddy descent to Atkins

Looking out at I-81 and Atkins

I was moving slower today and when we got to Atkins Dip'n'sip had already scoped out the resupply situation and reported the abysmal results...three available boxes of mac'n'cheese and a few candy bars, great. Well we put that problem aside for a few minutes and went to get something to eat. The nearby restaurant is famous for it's one pound hiker burger and both Dip'n'sip and I successfully tested ourselves against it. Delicious!

Conquering the one lb burger

Why Not reported that she had met a hiker named Shady on the trail (not the thru hiker we already know), and talked with him briefly. He made us a really interesting proposition. He said he would finish his hike in an hour or so, come get us at the restaurant, take us to the next town over to resupply and let us stay in a church retreat hostel for ten bucks. Well how could we pass that up? After he arrived it got even better. He shuttled us all over town to a couple different places including a Mennonite grocery store, which sold things in bulk and a regular grocery store. He also gave us some denatured alcohol and the keys to the hostel and said the building was ours for night.

This old tree stump looks like a canon

Srocket is eating what she can't pack out after resupply

The building itself is really neat. It is preserved by the historical society because it is part of the original Dr. Pepper's Drugstore where the soft drink got it's start. The other half if it burned down a few years ago and was located in the empty lot next to us. The hostel used to be advertised to AT hikers, but it got to be too much for the owners and now they just run it as a church retreat. Shady is friends with the owners and occasionally brings hikers here and treats them to the awesome hospitality we saw today. It was a great time for it. We have been soaked for the last couple days and getting to wash and dry our clothes and get a shower was fantastic. The place we are staying theoretically sleeps 35-40 and we have the whole place to ourselves.

Where part of Dr. Pepper's Drugstore used to stand

The front half of Dr. Peppers Drugstore used to be here, the hostel is in the background

Rural Retreat is an interesting town in itself. Besides being the home of Dr. Pepper it was also at one point the Cabbage capital of the world. The diner across the street where we went for dinner has a ton of old black and white photos of the town and were fun to peruse. The diner is definitely a local hangout spot and they all seemed a little confused to see a bunch of outsiders walk in, but everyone seemed friendly. They don't get many hikers out here though. It is a small town of about 1000 Shady indicated. Tomorrow Shady is going to meet us for breakfast and then give us a ride back to the trail.