Hot Springs, NC

Yesterday we got into Hot Springs NC and we are currently trying to leave as soon as we wind up with things here in town getting resupplied and mailing out things to everybody including one. The weather has warmed up considerably so the 35 degree sleeping bags aren't very comfortable anymore.

We were going to stay in a top notch hostel last night (15 bucks per night) but we ended up SLEEPING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!!! Of course when I say van, I mean that I was sleeping under the tarp. It was really down by the river. One of the more pleasant nights so far. Dinner came in the form of a home style diner version of the six dollar burger and fries. It came only two hours after lunch which meant it was tons of filling fun. I was hungry 3 hours later though.

Hiker's hunger is the worst. After packing 10 - 15 miles per day for several weeks, you end up with the hiker's hunger. You can eat at a buffet for two hours and still be just as hungry as when you started two hours later.

That's all I can think of right now but before too long I think that we are going to try to put up profiles of the people that we have met on the trail and then get their pictures up here too. Not everyone is a tree hugger or outdoor oriented. You would be pleasantly surprised.

[above is Daniel's portion, below is Brittany's]

As far as hiker hunger goes, I'm not there yet. I had a veggie plate of cucumber salad, turnip greens, fried green tomatoes, and pinto beans at the diner last night, and was stuffed. (One of the patrons last night whispered "More hippies!" as she walked by us.) A huge homestyle hash brown plate with toast and fruit this morning, stuffed. Snacked on a peach, a tart, a pint of chocolate vegan ice cream, and some fudge cookies...I may be sick soon.

The hike is still cool for me. I mean, I'm still slow, but there are great moments. Max Patch was an enormous bald, I mean enormous bald, with millions of buttercups (and many vacationers) on top. That same evening there were many stream crossings with log bridges (squared off), very beautiful. We had a potential bear encounter as well, arriving at a shelter laden with official and unofficial notices and anecdotes about the tenacity of the bear in the area. Not wanting our food stolen or gear destroyed, we hiked away from that (1938-built) shelter and camped under the tarp at a place called Catpen Gap. I don't like setting up in the dark, and because we didn't know if the bear might be where we were anyway, I sang Jesus Christ Superstar and Fountains of Wayne songs to warn potential bear of our presence while Daniel hung the food bag.



^^^Max Patch ascent and Daniel atop the bald enjoying the wind!

It's great to run into people we know. Just yesterday, we ran into the following hikers we knew, all in Hot Springs at the same time: Kit, Levi, Jukebox, Rolex, Cyclone, Skatch, Kansas, Dixie Dawg, Ben, Float, and Will. It's like a family reunion of dirty, smelly people: Hey guys! Great to see you here! How's it going!?

We are doing laundry as this entry is typed. So I'm sitting here in the outfitter in my rain jacket and my cleaner shorts, feeling somewhat exposed. This is typical, I am told. It's just a different way of life. Other hikers have said in real life, they shower and wear a clean outfit every day, but on the trail it doesn't bother them to go on for days without a cleaning. It doesn't bother me either, but I'm kind of glad to get 12-day funk out of my hiking pants!

We meet so many people, nearly every day, I wish I could write about them all. It's wonderful, being a hiker. People just want to talk to you.