Northport

My pit stop in Northport was longer than expected – I woke up early and got into town around 11 AM. I knew I would want to wait around for Bugs, Moose, Cookie Monster, and Morning Star. So I hung out in the library, ate food outside a strange little grocery store (and loaded up on supplies for the four-day hike to Republic), and sat around at a park until I caught wind of any other hikers.

I found Bambi and Brick at some point, and we bonded briefly over our shared experience of the lightning storm on Abercrombie Mountain. They were on their way out of town, and since I wasn’t leaving until the next day, I knew I probably wouldn’t see them again.

My other four friends showed up in the evening. We all chatted outside of the grocery store. I don’t remember what all I ate, but I do remember that it was a lot. Moose bought a pack of powdered sugar donuts, and I had at least a couple. We exchanged stories about Abercrombie Mountain and the roadwalk.

Bugs and Moose called up some local trail angels (Jami and Josh Lord), and they told us to come over and camp in their backyard. The four of us headed over in the evening. Cookie Monster and Morning Star left down that afternoon, though – they had a very important package coming to Orient, and they had to make sure to get there the next day before the post office closed.

Jami and Josh, our trail angel hosts, had very earthy vibes. We sat in their backyard talking with them for a while, and eventually I found out that there was an old upright piano in their garage. I played for about half an hour as everyone else talked outside. Even though I was incredibly out of practice, it felt so good to play again.

We cowboy-camped underneath the stars in Jami and Josh’s backyard that night. The mosquitos were biting pretty bad, but I was able to drift off to sleep eventually.