Bottles and Drums in front of Mom's
Miles Today: 14.1
Mile Marker: 294.5 Camp Creek
Super lazy morning today. I woke up at sunrise, per the usual, but I wasn't feeling ready to get moving. I laid around until about 7:45 when I got up to retrieve my food bag. I started to snack while I worked up the motivation to pack up and go. It was warm, but it rained last night. The only thing worse than taking down a sopping wet tent is having to put it up again that night. I've got about three more days of rain in the forecast so I'll just have to take Mike’s advice and “Suck it up Buttercup”. Oddly enough I did meet a Buttercup two days ago. Her and Midnight were hiking with a cute little pit bull named Boo Boo, but I digress. During my procrastination and snacking it started to rain again. I zipped back up and waited for it to stop. I ended up snacking and watching a TV show I downloaded to my phone before I left until just after 10:00. I used up my whole battery allotment for the day first thing in the morning, no shame.
I got one small shower after I got going, but that was it. About five miles in I met Bottles and Drums, as we tried to figure out how far away the hostel in our guide was. I wanted a soda, Bottles wanted to check the resupply, and Drums was thinking of staying there. While we were figuring out where we were Bottles asked “What's Mom’s?”. I immediately knew my problem was solved. I had seen it in videos from 2016 hikers, and Scarecrow reminded me of it yesterday. Mom’s is this run down convenience store that isn't mapped in the guides and isn't really advertised from the street. Picture a gas station that closed in the 50’s that someone decided to “reopen” by running enough power for a refrigerator and stocked it with about $100.00 worth of snacks. No lighting, no HVAC, no renovation. Just kicked down the door, spliced into the electric pole, wrote “Open” on the inside of a pizza box in sharpie and stuck it in the window. That's Mom’s. I got a soda and a Klondike bar for $2.50. Perfect.
We all hiked on and eventually hit Little Laurel Shelter. I made dinner while I had access to a picnic table, a water source, and it was still dry. Bottles and Drums both stayed for the night. I've got a schedule in mind to be able to nearo into the cabin, so I hiked on for another hour or so. Some people don't like the idea of solo camping, but sometimes it's a nice change of pace. You don't have to listen to people staying up later than you or getting up before you. Today was a good blend because I got to socialize at dinner, but still got some peace and quiet while maintaining my schedule.