Hostel or Hostile?

I learned something very important this weekend. Hostel hopping would never have suited me. In fact, it made me quite cranky.

This weekend I hiked Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts with some friends that I normally train for triathlons with in the summer. At the summit, there is a lodge. Bascom lodge, to be exact. We had a bunk room reserved for Saturday night so we could hike up, sleep, then hike down. Somehow I missed the detail about all of us sleeping in one room in the first place, though I did come prepared with my handy travel sound machine. Apparently, when my friend made the reservation she was told that our group of 8 would have the room that could accommodate 10 booked just for us. When we arrived, though, we had two strangers in our room. This meant the sound machine was no longer an option. Additionally, in trying to be considerate of them, we went to bed on their schedule, which was way too early for this night owl.

Trying to get any sleep through the night turned out to be the biggest adventure of the weekend! Without the sound machine, I used my Ipod to listen to ocean waves but when the track ended each hour, it went right into Hawthorne Heights and woke me up. Every hour! There was also a baby (who brings a baby to a hikers lodge??) who cried in the middle of the night in the next room. Plus, with 10 women in bunk beds in one room, every toss and turn came with the requisite creaks, there were lots of bathroom visits through the night and we found out at least two ladies snore and one was rather chatty in her sleep.

Being the light sleeper that I am, this whole scenario did not bode well for me. When I got home last night, I legitimately passed out, face down, on the couch. An hour and a half later, when my phone rang, it was tragically difficult to even lift my head to find it to make it stop. Fast forward to Monday morning, where I now sit on my couch in a zombified state while I should be at work. I feel like I got hit by a bus. (Had to pause to yawn). I think I will go crawl back in bed now.