Standing Bear Farm/Hostel: Encore

Well, it's been a little bit of a crazy day. After a night in the overflow area sleeping in wet sleeping bags, everyone who had come in after sleeping in a tent had soaked gear. The laundry here is interesting: just a washtub with an old-fashioned washboard and one dryer. Because of the traffic jam, it took all day just to get everything cleaned up and dried.

Between my location and the weather, my cell service and SPOT's ability to communicate through satellite have been off and on for a few days. I'm able to get text messages out, but with a lot of lag time between my messages and when I receive a response. I changed batteries in SPOT and it worked when I tested it tonight. I'm hoping that that was the only problem there.

My plan is to hike past Groundhog Creek Shelter to Max Patch Mountain tomorrow, which is off mile 253.3 of the Trail. I'm hoping for better weather because the views there are absolutely beautiful on nice days; some say it's the prettiest spot on the entire Trail. Folks there today had only dense fog to look at, so please cross your fingers for me!