9.87 miles Cosby to standing bear hostel.
Today is the closest I've come to hypothermia. It rained all day, temperature about 45 degrees and windy. I'm glad I had the sense to keep on my green marmot wind jacket under my rain jacket..usually this is too hot and I peel off the layers as I hike.
Last night , zag and I were talking about bear poop ( as I proudly hail from central Alabama...I do not know anything about bears...except that they will kill you for a peanut butter sandwich...) She, being from Montana, had not only seen bear poop ("scat" is the proper term), but actual BEARS...
So I take her info as gospel. "it looks like horse poop, but smaller and has fruit and seeds in it" . I've also heard that of one makes lots of noise as they hike (ie singing or talking loudly), the bears will be alerted to your approach and scamper off into the wilderness... This is my current working knowledge of black bears...
So I'm hiking along today. I'm cold. Moreso than usual. And I happen across a pile of poop directly on the trail. Now I am not a total idiot. I had a horse when I was a kid..this looked life horse poop. .but there weren't any horse tracks on the muddy trail. Then I start thinking..could it be bear poop? There's no fruit or seeds in it...but it's too early for there to be any fruit to eat.so I proceed to convince myself that what this is, in fact, is black bear scat..
So really plucked up the pace. And I sang..loudly. Every patriotic hymn I could think of. Then every gospel hymn I could think of that my mom played on the piano my whole life..then I moved on to gospel hymns sung by Elvis Presley..then I started making up songs "lord how I'd like some sunshine on my nose..lord how I'd like some warmth in my toes.." And another one about how good a cup of chicken soup would be..
Before I knew it, I had arrived at standing bear hostel...floor and porch room only, a nice barrel wood burning heater in the bunk house, plentiful resupply that works on the honor system, a hot shower, a kitchen, a privy, and a clothes dryer...what more could a tired, cold hiker ask for? I made dinner: cream of mushroom soup with a can of mixed veggies and a can of chicken over chicken flavored rice..deconstructed chicken pot pie...warm and delicious
Folks here that I know: gar bear and bear snack, pee paw, Jordana, alpha dog. Some kid called wanderlust dropped by on his way to the next shelter..would put him at 30 miles today...youth
There were 6 piles of poop on the trail, but who's counting?
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