The Devil's Kitchen

We made our way to the post office, and my map, that I had shipped ahead, had not arrived. So we decided to grab some pizza from Popelino’s, and hike up to this overhung rock cave called the Devil’s Kitchen by locals. We didn’t get started till late, so we hiked only in the dark. I, as my friends know, enjoy a good night hike. We got to the top of the Pinnacles, and hung around Indian Fort Lookout for a little while.

Photographers are worse than packrats. They want to capture all the beauty around them, but never want to sit and experience it as it lies. Myself included sometimes; but at least digital photographs don’t weigh anything

We hiked down to the cave and set up camp. We made a fire… Or really Levi, my host, started a fire with a boat flare and some denatured alcohol. We hung out till one in the morning, then retired. Eventually I decided to rise as water was dripping into my ear and on the footbox of my sleeping bag. I went back up to the lookout, took some pictures and by then Blaine and Levi were ready to pack out.

We revisited the post office and to my luck, my map has arrived. I finally know where I’m going! And it seems I’ll be passing through Mammoth Cave National Park, but first, Trail Days. And my host has decided to acompany me hitching back to Damascus, VA. So we’ve washed our clothes and are ready to thumb it.