Kincora Hostel/Shook Branch 427

On our today's bucket list is a visit at the Kincora hostel for a bit of resupply to make it until Damascus. But it did turn out other than expected :)
We arrived there at around 10ish AM and talked a bit with Bob (trail name Kincora - kind heart I think), the owner of the hostel. He is a super nice man and told us a lot about his experiences on several trails, especially on the Camino de Santiago. As we mentioned that we were planning to move on today he made us an offer we can't refuse. So first we got to sleep in the tree house with a gorgeous view over the area. Second he offered us a ride to Shook Branch Recreation Area from where we can slackpack (see the bottom text for an explanation) back to the hostel. And the last, most important point was that every evening around 9:30 PM there's a raccoon coming to the table and enjoys his dinner there!! As I said, an offer you can't refuse.
So we hiked pretty easy today up a quite high hill on the trail and afterwards headed to a magnificent waterfall. But by the time we arrived there, it started pouring... So I just quickly dipped in the stream and we moved back to the hostel.
After restocking we made a huge barbecue with 6 steaks and 6 sausages that we ate easily thanks to the hiker hunger. A little bit later the racoon showed up and we enjoyed seeing him eat while we rewarded ourselves with a beer!!

Slackpacking (imo: slim backpack) means that you're leaving your heavy backpack at your accommodation and you only take the stuff that you need for the day with you. Then you're dropped off somewhere, hike the trail and then get picked up somewhere later and stay another night in the accommodation. Usually it's pretty expensive because you have to pay for the Shuttle up to three times. You can also "cheat" by getting dropped off at a summit, then you're just having the descents. For us it was basically the same ;)Read more