a Celebration

Day 34

Today, exactly two years ago, we completed the Appalachian Trail. Ever since that moment, we have been working to protect, explore, and experience nature. What better way to celebrate than in an awesome hiker hostel?

This morning there were a few people passing through, and we met the couple that my girlfriend's parents helped out way back when. We had kept hearing about the Andersons, a family that has been taking in, feeding, and bathing hikers. While the mileage wasn't much, we figured since we missed out on the Sauffleys (another family-run hiker hostel), we would make a pit stop here.

We got to the house and were greeted with hugs and welcomes. We set up our tent in the back to find another NEMO tent! It was our first sighting on the trail, so we were excited to find the owner. We came inside to find the man with the tent known by the trail name Lion King. We had heard about him after the AT because he had hiked it with an awesome picture flying one of the NEMO tents like a kite. We talked to him for a while, but he was off soon after we got in.

We went to the cafe nearby to get some lunch, and got back to the Andersons to hang out with all the hikers, along with the Andersons themselves, and their dogs. We will soon be eating, and with a few beers, will celebrate our 2-year anniversary of finishing the AT.