What a sweaty night! I slept in the shelter as there was predictions of precipitation for the early morning hours. But as usual, the practice weather reporters were wrong, and for no good reason I subjected myself to snoring. Honestly it wouldn’t had matter where I slept, in my tent or in the shelter, as the air was still and it was miserable night of sleep, with or without snores.

Sid and I discussed the departure time of 6am. With these temperatures, my only way to get in the miles is either early morning hiking or late afternoon walks. Early morning won out. Sid was up at 5:30am as I was packing up my gear and making a version of Cold Brew without ice. Sid suggested that he stayed behind and would catch up with me. That sounded like a fine plan, at the moment, as I proceeded to leave shortly after six.

The rest of the Shelter peeps left fairly earlier too. There was one last water source about a mile from the shelter. We all stopped there, cameled up, meaning drinking as much water as possible and storing it in your body like a camel. It does help, especially when you are many miles from the next reliable water outlet. I drank a liter at the watering hole, carried 2-1/2 liters and continued on. I actually had one extra liter I purified and left with a note, For Sid, Love Noni. One thing about thru-hikers, they respect others equipment, provisions and trail magic. Sid retrieved his water a couple of hours later, sitting right where I left it, atop a log.

It was another scorcher but God’s grace was with us today. There was a bit of a breeze that kept the temperature down, ever so slightly. Sid and I were in communication and once he left the Shelter, I had close to four miles on him. Our plan was to meet at the top of the crest, take a break and eat lunch.

This was a great way to allow me to get in the miles early, and give the teenager a bit more sleep. I arrived at our lunch destination and waited. One of the hikers from the Shelter, Just Vince (his name is Vince) stopped by and had lunch with me. He hiked the AT back in 1974-75 and was reliving the trail some 50 years later. He’s close to 70 now and admits that it’s a different trail and much harder than he remembered. I betcha it is! Sid arrived a bit later and was pooped. He pulled out his pad and laid down for half an hour, without eating. One thing is for sure, the hotter it is, the less you have an appetite. But he was drinking plenty of electrolytes and three liters of water!

I decided to finish off our hike at Peters Mountain Trailhead (TH) where we could get a ride into town and regroup. There are many Shuttle Drivers and Honeybun answered first. Yes, I can take you wherever you want to go. I like his Can-Do attitude and he met us at the TH at 4:30pm. We talked for a bit and decided to head back to his Hostel, bare bones, and stay the night. We stopped along the way, picked up Pizza and Drinks and we went back to his Grandparents Ranch, which he inherited. Sounds familiar. Many of these hostels and farms are passed down in the family.

Sid will stay here tomorrow, work for stay, which includes mowing the lawn and picking up manure. I’ll head back to the trail and do what I do best, hike! Slackpacking is the only way to go when it’s this hot and there’s big climbs ahead.

Honeybun, his Trail-name from 2019 hike of the AT, is a worker. Honeybuns are a dessert roll that many hikers eat as it provides over 450 calories in one serving. They are a large donut-like substance that’s caked with 48 grams of sugary frosting. Honeybun is a slim marathon runner and evidently needed the extra calories. However, his favorite meal is Cow. He is raising four heifers all with names. T-Bone, Sirloin, Rump Roast and Fall Feast. He’s a character and Sid seems to like him. While I have my tent pitched in the field, Sid is sleeping in the barn. All is good in our world and I think Sid and I have found a good partnership. I hike and he works at the Hostels. It’s not the way I had planned this summer trek of the AT, but it allows us both to get what we want, and we’re both happy campers.