Day 39 - 7/17 - Unexpected Challenges and Small Wins

Stealth Camp (280.5) to US 2 - Barn Hiker Hostel (298.5)

Dessert at the hostel

I woke up today to a dead phone battery. Not entirely sure what happened. I put it to charge with my backup battery, and both were dead in the morning. I’ll have to sort that out for the future, but for the day, it just made things a little more complicated. I planned to get to a hostel, so I used my Garmin InReach to let my dad know what happened and to tell him I’d text when I got to the road so he could call the hostel for pickup. I was also running a little low on food, so I just had a honeybun for breakfast. The hiking was so slowing, with a decent bit of elevation change, but I made it to route two by 5 pm, and the hostel sent a shuttle by 5:30. My first order of business back in civilization was getting some food, so I took a shuttle with a few other hikers to a Walmart Supercenter. I got a few days' worth of supplies and also a fried chicken and mac ‘n cheese dinner. Back at the hostel, I took a shower, did laundry, and discovered that I was still hungry. I walked to a gas station, which luckily had an ample stock of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.