I swear that a hot shower is the greatest invention of mankind. Not space travel, not the internet. Hot showers! I had my first shower since Harper’s Ferry . The longest I have ever gone without a shower. It was glorious!

I hiked 5.6 miles today to Penmar Park and I’m staying at a hostel called Sunflower Cottage. Private room, shared bath, laundry facilities, and a ride to and from the trail for $35. It’s great! I got here about 2pm showered, washed my hair twice! Took advantage of the loaner robe to wash all my clothes. I will not describe the stench, but know that it is over powering – truly gag worthy. I laid out all of my gear, decided what I’m sending home to lighten my pack and took a nap. I was the first one in off the trail so I had the house to myself and finished the afternoon with a nap in a bed!

Trail Magic is when a person not hiking the trail leaves food or water along the trail, gives a hiker a ride, just anything nice a non-they hiker does for a thru hiker. I came off the trail at Penmar park with a beautiful view (first one I have been able to see; all the others have been fogged out). I sat down in the overlook area to text the hostel for a ride. Talk to a couple of section hikers also waiting for a ride and just enjoy being off my feet. A lady walks over and starts asking me if I am a thru hiker and lots of questions about my hike and my gear (number one topic of conversation with all hikers and all trail angels, people who do trail magic). We talk for a bit. She is getting ready to hike Maryland with a friend. She offered to give me a ride to the hostel. I was thrilled to accept because the owner of the hostel had just texted me and explained she couldn’t come get me until 4pm. So I could wait, walk the mile and half to the hostel or take the trail magic. I took the trail magic. The lady was incredibly nice , but kept the windows down the entire time (did I mention the truly heinous stink?).

So now the fall. First, I am not hurt, but will have some ugly bruises tomorrow. It scared the crap out of me though. I mention the wet and slippery rocks from yesterday’s hike. Today they were bigger, just as slippery and much more of them. Some times there were so many rocks, you couldn’t tell where the trail was. When this happens, they paint the white blazes directly on the rocks to help guide you through. Even seeing the blazes, I often couldn’t tell how to walk to the next one. There was just not a clear path.

So I am gingerly and cautiously going across the rocks. Yes I slid on my butt. Yes I commando crawled across them. Not dignified but better than getting hurt. I come to a slightly easier section where there are lots of rocks but level and I can just step across. I step with my left foot (the one with the torn Achilles tendon) and it slips. In what feels like slow motion. I start to fall backwards onto my right foot. My arms with hiking poles are flailing and for a minute I think I am going to be able to catch myself. However the weight of my pack hits the end of the slack in my shoulder straps and over I go, straight back onto rocks. Luckily I landed flat of my back like a flipped over turtle. Which means I landed on my pack, which is mainly filled with soft things. It knocked all the wind out of me and scared me badly. My heart was racing while I took inventory of my body parts. Also luckily, I didn’t seemed to be injured. I manage to flop over on my belly and get the wind knocked out of me again, when my pack flops over with me. I unlatch my pack and sit up. Still doing inventory of my body parts as I move. No injuries. I hike in full length pants and long sleeves so I don’t even have any scrapes. I will definitely have bruises tomorrow but so fortunate that is the worst of it.

I’m sitting there trying to decide if I even want to get up and keep going or just keep sitting there and call it quits. Then my mind wanders to how I could quit. I mean there is no one there to carry me out. I’m not injured so I can’t activate my emergency beacon. I immediately start fantasizing about 4 (okay it would probably take 8) burly men coming to carry me out in a golden palanquin. All of a sudden a giant ant bit me on the butt and I leaped to my feet, gathered my poles and pack and got going. For the next half mile, I had the Selena hit “Biddi Biddi Bom Bom as an earwig, but I changed the words to “Bit me on the bum bum! Bit me on the bum bum! It bit me, bit me on the bum bum.” So I am fine. I’m bruised and my pride was a little dented, but I’m fine 😀

Happy to report that Sam I Am, Whataburger, and Scout all showed up at the same hostel (I might have mentioned it a time or two to them.) and we all had fabulous food at a local pizza/burger/Italian place two blocks from the hostel. A sign inside said something like: A husband and wife cooking together in a small kitchen and we are Italian. Don’t worry when you hear yelling! The food was from scratch and delicious and the company was even better.