Today's miles 12.6. AT miles 404.4
We had a great nights sleep at the hostel. W2 and Comfort Zone were up and out by 7:30am and kindly left us some bread and eggs for breakfast. Mary normally provides breakfast for $12, supposedly one of the best breakfasts along the trail but wasn't doing them today unfortunately. We took it slow getting ready this morning as it was raining heavily outside so waited for it to lesson slightly. We left at 9.30am, still raining but not so heavy. Not long afterwards the rain turned to snow. It didn't last long though and had stopped by midday.
It was a steady up and down and then up and down again today, only about 700 ft difference in elevation all day between 2900 and 3600 ft. There weren't that many interesting things along the trail today compared to other days. We spent most of the day walking through damp rhododendron forest. We did walk for a short while alongside Elk River which was a nice change and also passed Mountaineer Falls which was just after the four hundred mile mark! We stopped for a quick snack at Mountaineer shelter then continued the final 3 and a bit miles to Vango/Abbey Memorial hostel just off the trail down a short side trail.
We arrived about 3.30pm just as the sun came out. Scotty the owner was not around but the hostel was open so we made ourselves at home. We have the place to ourselves. It's a basic 6 bed hostel, a non profit making, donation based with a recommended donation of $12 per person a night. We decided to hostel rather than camp because its forecast to get down to -5°C/23°F tonight. The campsite we had planned on staying at and the hostel are only about one mile apart so we're not far off our original trail plan but will have a warmer night.
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