Well I've learned my place. Today we hiked to the summit of Blood Mountain, and it was our steepest climb yet. The ascent exhausted me, but I managed it with vigor.
The decent was a different story. My love affair with downhill hiking is officially over. By the last mile down the mountain my knees were full of hot iron.
Thankfully, the base of Blood is bliss. We walked into Neels Gap, which is actually where we had originally driven and asked for directions on our first day out. Neels gap is a gear resupply/hostile that used to be an inn when it was built in the 1930s.
Here is a fantasy after days of wilderness: 15 bucks for a bunk and an awesome common room with about 80 VHS tapes. We have so far watched Christmas Vacation, Gremlins, and currently Gladiator. It's also pouring rain outside at the moment, and they let us bring a dog in, so it's about the coziest room you could imagine. Put on top of that the fact that Pirate, the guy who runs the hostile, also makes dinner. We had ribs, rice, salad, and baked beans.
After a day of destroying my knees and exhausting my body it couldn't get much better.
As an epic addition, Pirate just gave everyone who's still awake (at 7:30pm) a beer and free reign to grab more. It's tough to feel more welcome than this. Welcome to the trail!