Project Eveningland

3/14/2023 Tuesday

Hostel noise has a way of drawing you to wakefulness in the morning. It’s honestly a very gentle way to wake, under the right conditions. In the morning, I met the other half of the couple that own the hostel (Sunshine and Jumanji).

Jumanji, a guy, has dreads and is about the most cheerful person you can imagine. Dude laughs easy and I don’t mind at all. He drove Bill and me back to Garenflo, where once again I found myself wishing for a longer car ride. It’s definitely below freezing. I haven’t been paying enough attention to the forecast. I didn’t see this one coming.

I organized a little “mini slack pack” for myself. I paid a nominal fee to have the hostel owner at Gnomads deliver most of my gear (excepting stuff I’d need for my six mile hike today) to the hostel where I’m staying tonight. I had some separation anxiety about my gear. Didn’t want to leave it behind and be without it. Jumanji and Sumshine (owners) are both thru hikers. He understood.

Today was up and down and then down down down to the tune of just over six miles. I wore all my layers and pulled my buff up over my face. Had the most lovely thoughts about the presentation I’ve been writing for a friends’s retirement symposium. I’ve just been jotting ideas down here and there but it’s going somewhere I really like.

Listened to another ep of my favorite Star Trek podcast. It’s sort of like watching TV with chatty friends while hiking, or as close as you might come. Very comforting on a cold day.

Green splotches of open, grassy land—a reliable sign of human settlement—began to peak out from between the endless lumpy hills. The final switchbacks before a town always feel like they take forever.

We have at least two dry days coming. I checked in at Laughing Heart, where Fresh Ground was cooking up a big pot of chili. I then headed to the outfitter to try on new shoes (had my brand but not the right size). Got a new umbrella just like my old one. I’ll never walk out of Hot Springs without an umbrella—not again.

Grabbed a few snacks at the Dollar General. They’re often nice to hikers there—at dollar stores I mean. Then I had a so-so chicken wrap for lunch and returned to the hostel. It’s full of people I know! Saw Wedge, Hide, Mary Poppins, Beaker, Mitch (who’s here resting his knee), Spring Break, Vegas, probably a few others I know. It’s a summer-camp kind of feeling (though how the heck would I know?). Feels warm and shabby.

Wedge, Hide and co. are pushing for me to join them for a zero tomorrow, but the weather looks awesome and I want to be out there when it’s dry. Folks invited me to go to a pizza restaurant later. Do I feel up for boozing and other forms of social liveliness tonight? I don’t know if I want to walk. I would go if there were a ride or it weren’t so cold.

My little room at Laughing Heart Hostel (where I’m sleeping tonight) is off the tiny kitchen. It’s a noisy spot but I don’t mind. It helps that I have an effective white noise app on my phone. It’s gonna be icy cold tonight—better to be sleeping indoors.

I took a nap amidst the din then decided to go into town with the gang after all. Part of my goal of coming into town was to E-A-T. They’d already left when I awoke but there aren’t that many restaurants. Even fewer that are open. I found them in a pub and had a beer and an app (not great mac and cheese; pretty good strawberry Hefeweizen). I stopped on the way back for a pizza. The bartender/server asked if I wanted my soda water to go and I said “I’d love that!” with such obvious and sincere enthusiasm that I think she was a little bit charmed. The thought of having cold soda water back in my room delighted me to a degree that now seems out of proportion. I dunno what it is about cold soda water from a restaurant on ice. It makes me feel like I’m on a hovercraft being rescued from the Hunger Games. Yeah I’m in the clutches of the Capital, which is no good, but that soda water!