Day 43 - 13th May - Laurel Fork Campsite to Kincora Hostel - 13 miles

We make an early start and travel steadily making 2 miles an hour. We meet a few hikers heading south, but there are no slackpackers today. Turtle passes us at around 2pm. We head down the steep ridge to the hostel which is a mile off the trail.

The hostel is free – and asks for payment by donation. It is owned by Bob Peoples a legend on the AT, and famous for organizing ‘hard core’ trail activities, such as building and rerouting trails, by hand with pick and hoe. Bob has built the hostel about 25m from his own house, and it is a legend on the trail because those with little money can stay here for a small donation.

We are driven into the main town of Elizabeth to buy food by Seiko, a volunteer and friend of Bob’s. We buy lots of fruit and vegetables and do a big fry up back at the hostel – mushrooms, potatoes, eggs, bacon. As I cook up the meal, a large group of hungry young men arrive. We had bought a whole watermelon and gave them that to start with. Fresh fruit is such a treat on the trail. I accidentally dropped a fried egg on the floor when I was flipping it, and I picked it up to put it in the rubbish, but was intercepted by one of the young men - "Don't throw it out - I'll have it." And he did.

Bob Peoples arrives late in the evening and we sit around the table on the balcony and talk with him, swapping stories about the Camino de Santiago, which he hiked last year (I did this hike in 2001).

A lot of people are arriving to get a shuttle to Damascus to attend trail days – a big annual gathering of AT hikers which celebrates the trail. We decide to stay focused on the hiking, as we don’t have enough time to spare for trail day participation. Turtle decides to join the shuttle. She is having problems with a bad back and this time out may help. John and Lisa - her trailname is 'Just Lisa' arrive. We had enjoyed their company at Erwin hostel. They decide to take the shuttle and enjoy the trail days celebration. We follow their journey at trailjournals.com over the next few months, and then have a surprise meeting on our very last day of the hike on the summit of Mt Katahdin.

We sleep in bunks in the back corridor - me on the bottom, Digby on the top. In the middle of the night I am woken up by Digby shaking the whole double bunk, rocking it backwards and forwards. I wonder what is going on. Then I can hear snoring - huge deep throaty snores coming from the bottom bunk next to mine. He thinks it is me making this noise! I say 'It's not me', and the rocking stops.