Hot Springs, Cold Weather

Day 27

We left the shelter early so we could be one of the first to arrive in Hot Springs, our first town that the trail itself actually runs right through, and secure a place to stay. The Hostel at Laughing Heart was the very first business coming off the mountain and we quickly found Chuck Norris, who allowed us to use the three-person bunkroom as a private room. All the other private rooms were few and there was only a few spots left in the large bunkroom. It was good that we were the first ones to get there in the morning. Hot Springs had a total population of 637 and it was less than one mile from one edge of town to the other. Still, Main Street was full of all the quaint little shops thru-hikers enjoy. After showering we went to the Hiker's Ridge Ministry for some free snacks and were told there to go to the Take Out for lunch. That was a very small store and restaurant and we both got lunches that were too big for us to finish. We spent several hours at the local library updating our blogs on actual computers. We resupplied most of our food at the local outfitter, where the scale also told me that I had lost ten pounds since beginning our thru-hike. The outfitter had these delicious high-calorie bars that are tons tastier than Clif Bars. They were called B!g Sur Bars and we hope we can find them other places along the way too. We bought some more food at Dollar General, but every place we went was completely sold out of bagels so we got crackers instead. We went back to the hostel to drop off our groceries and hung out with other hikers for some time. A lot of them we keep running into and have gotten to know them a little bit. There's J-Walk, Willy Wonka, Silver Stag, and Fromage. The Pope and Muriel showed up, who we hadn't seen since one of our first days on the Trail, so we went to a local diner with them for dinner. As we were finishing up our meals the waitress came over with four portions of extra cobbler she gave to us for free. As with most of the young thru-hikers, the Pope and Muriel are on a strict budget and since Nepsis and I have saved a lot of money we decided to pay for their dinner, despite their protests. As one of my good friends once told me, "The Lord blesses so that others might be blessed through you." That night, it took me a long time to fall asleep. For half an hour I really felt like I was on the verge of throwing up and I don't know why. Maybe I ate too much, but I'd like to think that my body is very strong and fought a tough battle against something bad in my system, and after thirty minutes was ultimately victorious.

Miles hiked today: 3.2 mi. Total AT miles: 273.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 1911.4

Day 28

We woke up to rain patter on our windows so we were in no hurry to leave. We ate leftovers from lunch and J-walk started to whip up breakfast in the kitchen where several of us hikers had congregated. He made eggs and pancakes with trail mix in it, which he gave freely to us. Afterward, he was known as Chef J-Walk. After we packed up we went back to the outfitter because we had forgot to buy denatured alcohol for our stove. Nepsis also bought shorts. We then headed over to the Hiker's Ridge Ministry where I used a computer to catch up on blogging. It felt good to finally be caught up. It was still raining so we decided to go to Iron Horse Restaurant for lunch and to wait out the rain. After we finished we waited as long as we dared, but finally left at 13:30 even though it was still cold and rainy. The first section of our ascent was rocky, and the rain would at times transform into snow for a few seconds at a time. We hiked higher and higher up Rich Mountain and before we knew it the rain turned to snow for good and snow covered the ground. I felt like Gandalf hiking over the Misty Mountains, with my staff (hiking pole) and snow stuck in my beard (not as long as his' yet). We pressed on and arrived at the Spring Mountain Shelter shortly before dark. The shelter was full and tents were set up everywhere. Some hikers hadn't hiked at all that day and just stayed huddled in their tents. We set up our own tent and fell asleep completely bundled in all our warm clothes.

Miles hiked today: 11 Total AT miles: 284.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 1900.4

Day 29

We didn't leave our tent early, but eventually ventured out into the cold to get hiking. A few miles in we started up the long ascent of Camp Creek Bald. It was slow going and very tiring. It took us most of the day and although we had planned to go much further we set up camp at Jones Meadow.

Miles hiked today: 10.7 Total AT miles: 295.6 Total AT miles left to hike: 1889.7

Day 30

A few miles into our hike we started climbing through the Firescald which were massive, medium-sized, and small rocks we had to maneuver over for a mile and a half. It was a great change of pace. We actually had to use our hands to climb over and squeeze through some of the rock formations and at the top there was impressive views. It was a little bit of actual mountain climbing rather than hiking up a mountain path. Just beyond this we passed our 300-mile mark. After that we climbed up Big Butt Mountain which had two large rocks at the top that were positioned in such a way that they looked like a big butt. A few miles further was on old memorial    for the Shelton Laurel Massacre where a Confederate Lieutenant-Colonel executed thirteen civilians he suspected on Unionism, including three boys. We moved on, trying to cover as much ground as we could since we didn't go as far as planned the day previous and ended up camping near the Big Flat.

Miles hiked today: 17.2 Total AT miles: 312.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 1873.1

Day 31

After a few miles we came upon Sam's Gap where we had planned to resupply at a small store 3.3 miles away. We almost had enough food, but we needed some more snacks. Fortunately, when we got there a small group of hikers huddled near an RV, enjoying trail magic! They had biscuits with gravy, coffee, bananas, apples, and powerade. When Nepsis mentioned that we didn't have enough food, they climbed back into their RV and came out with some trail food. The young woman had been a thru-hiker, but hurt her leg three weeks back and had to get off. We were glad they were kind enough to give us whatever we wanted because the entire time we were there only one car, a student driver, passed us. It would have been nearly impossible to hitch a ride to the store. After the trail magic we started hiking up Big Bald and were soon joined by Forrester Gump, the only thruhiker we've met who knew what my trail name meant. He had studied theology in his younger days and now worked in forestry. He was very intelligent and it was good to converse with someone who was hiking for some of the same reasons as us. It seems that a lot of thruhikers are out here to have fun, an excuse to not work perhaps, and don't enjoy the walking so much the beer in town and the marijuana in their packs. Others just seem to like the challenge and are just pushing themselves through the hiking, using it as another adventure to accomplish or another challenge to overcome. Still, I think there is something more, that perhaps we don't always understand ourselves, that is driving us all out here to walk over 2,000 miles in a few months. Big Bald had another giant field on top, but wasn't nearly as pretty as Max Patch. We continued on to Spivey Gap where we set up our tent for the night. This day marked our first month of hiking the AT! A sixth of the way to the end milage-wise is 364.2 so we missed that mark by a mere 34.2 miles. Considering we started out slower and several large sections in our future will be mostly flat, I think we are well on our way to finishing before the average six months. That being said, we are in no big hurry to rush through this thing.

Miles hiked today: 18 Total AT miles: 330.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 1854.5