Mountain Crossing Hostel

Never having spent a night in a hostel I had no idea of what to expect. I was told to see Pirate and that it was Hawaiian night. Pirate gave me a towel for the shower and showed me the door to the bunkhouse. About sixteen bunks in all. Got settled in and Pirate announced Happy Hour. Still needed to get Hawaiian
Shirt in order to eat. Pirate provided the shirts. A good time was had by all while the wind blew to 50 mph outside. It was 50 mph since Pirate said the curtains were moving. Cold too. One of the two hostel
Cats tried to make my bunk his, and we reached a compromise about 1am. At 5 am Pirate started breakfast. Pancakes and muffins. Yummy. Very cold morning to start. Water in my Camelback froze in short order. Needed to set my pack in the sun at the first rest stop to defrost. Just before Neel's Gap climbed and descended Blood Mountain. What a view from the top. Challenging up and down. 31.7 miles done at Neel's Gap.