The hordes.

Made a mistake today, I'm afraid. Stopped too early. Just under 15 miles. Now there is a horde of people at the shelter. I bet we are approaching 40 people. I could have gone on to the next shelter, but this place, Laurel shelter, was pretty nice. Water is very near, there's a privy, and the thru-hikers that were here were all friends. 

Dinosaur, Beandip, and Spirit Crusher are here, and so are Rocketman, Princess, and Ranger. If I haven't said so before, I really like them. Ranger and Princess are siblings, and both are very outgoing.  Princess is straight up exuberant. Rocketman is a little more reserved, yet still quite personable.

Thin Mint is also here, and I've forgiven him for taking my hiking poles this morning. Same brand and color, but different models. We are similar heights, so he didn't notice for first 5 miles. I finally caught up to him around lunch time. 

There is a college group here from Canada. And a new hiker walks in every few minutes, it seems. Listen and Squirrel are here, Violet made it in, Boomer, Senator, H2O, Smudge, and some others, plus a few section hikers. Party. Gonna be hard to go to sleep. 

Played a couple games of Diamonds. Ranger, me, and Dinosaur played the first one. I won that one. The second was me, Dinosaur, Senator, and H2O. Senator won. The two of them are cousins from Ohio. They were witty, I'll give them that. 

I enjoyed the game, and I think Dinosaur really likes Diamonds. My hope is that it will spread the length of the Trail and become the official card game of the AT. Then I will finally have accomplished something with my life. 

Selfie near Windy Rock. 

Violet, Dinosaur, and Ranger.