Day 97 - Sunrise Mountain Pavilion to the Secret Hostel

Got a late start. Really tough to get the legs going again. Dave was hiking in his Tevas since those $20 sneakers had chewed up his feet. He was moving really slow -- for him.

Got to a road crossing where there was supposed to be water on picnic tables. There was, so I loaded up. Eventually a park ranger stopped by and was chatting. He spilled the beans that he’s Desperado -- the one who fills the bear boxes and leaves the water for hikers. Wasn’t too shy about touting his good deeds. Said he’d give Dave a ride to an outfitter if we could be at the Secret Hostel at 5.

That didn’t leave us much time, so we skipped the stop at the lake. Had lunch on a big, flat rock on the side of the trail. I heard a noise behind us and turned my head. There was a black bear no more than 15 feet away! Must have smelled the peanut butter and other snack items. The bear didn’t seem afraid of us at all. I don’t think I was scared -- more like fascinated -- but that would have changed if the bear had come any closer. And if it had tried to attack us, it certainly would have succeeded.

 

My pack was on the ground -- out of reach -- along with my small bottle of mace. “What do you want to do?” Dave asked frantically. I said, “Nothing. I want to take a picture.” But he proceeded to tap his metal knife on the rock and I think yell, “Get away!”

The bear just sauntered away, stopped, got on its hind legs and was sniffing the air. Then it got back on the trail, heading north, and Dave was able to get a good picture, I hope. It was quite amazing -- a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I imagine.

We saw a lot of other wildlife this day, too -- turkey vultures, wild turkeys and their babies, a ground hog (I think).

 

Murph, Longshanks, and Smittee at the Secret Hostel

In a rush to make it to the hostel by 5. Couldn’t find the road we were looking for, and it was getting late. I decided to go backwards and see if we had passed it; Dave kept heading north. He found it first. Desperado was waiting with pizza and beer, as promised.

I headed to the hostel. It’s a great place -- wooden bunkhouses in the middle of an open field. Dave’s “dream place”. Even has an indoor and outdoor shower. Plus electricity (no lights, though). Didn’t do too much exploring due to a late afternoon and early evening thunderstorm.
 

Dave went to get new boots -- got back after 9. We hung out for a while outside. There was a full moon, with clouds dancing across the sky and an orchestra of fireflies in the meadow below. Couldn’t sleep, though. Was it the full moon?

 

Dave said he needed to take tomorrow off so his feet could heal a bit. Another zero day! Definitely not in the plans. In fact, he would have wanted to take a day off at the Secret Hostel anyway, he said. 

 

But I didn’t. No good book to read. Not physically tired or at all ready for a day off. Also, not enough food for both of us to stay an extra day. Maybe that’s just an excuse. Anyway, we decided that he and Smittee would stay, and I’d move on with Murph and Stray.