A Little Drop of Rain…

I woke up and saw nothing but gray skies and looming thunderclouds. Seeing that, I knew I didn’t want to have to stop dig through my food bag for the day. So I strapped some bagels and peanut butter to the outside of my pack, and then took the biggest risk of the hike: I drained the rest of my bottle of olive oil. Ok, that’s a bit dramatic. This wasn’t a life or death situation, but the calculus I did was this; the oil could provide me enough slow burning calories throughout the day to not have to stop as often for snacks. Meanwhile, the effects of the olive oil in my gut would be mitigated by the fact we were reaching town today. So, with that in mind, and a fanny pack stuffed with my remaining Pop-Tarts, trail mix, and skittles in the side pockets, I rocketed off onto trail.

In the morning, I was down in the dumps, even in the fields of my favourite colour, green. I try to hike without anything in my ears until I just want something, and today, that was instant. So, I put on an episode of Backpacker Radio that I had downloaded from a while ago, but for some reason never listened to. And for some reason, it filled me with some type of Zen. Listening to John Z talk about backpacking was like someone comforting you with all his experience, even if you don’t take anything concrete from it. One thing he said really struck a chord with me, “Podcasts help when you’re lonely. Music helps you go fast.” It reinforced two things. One, there’s no shame in listening to stuff on trail. Even a guy who doesn’t filter his water because he wants to truly taste outdoor water listens to stuff. And two, it just… helped me feel less lonely in the moment. Like I had a support group with me, right on my back at the time. 

Listening to them talk about backpacking helped make my trip feel a bit less futile than it has recently. I passed by the other three at some point, and quickly whisked on by. I caught a groove in the rain. Keeping an empty head, and hiking through the emerald, rolling fields, I maintained a ballistic speed of 2.7mph through the day. Cruisy hiking, sure, but still! (for reference, I’d say the average is about 2mph). It helped that after the BPR episode ended, I put on The Fellowship of the Ring, and it finally got interesting. I’ve actually been occasionally putting on LOTR for a while, but between the beginning chapters with all the details of Bag End, and then three hours of Tom Bombadil, I’d originally been making very slow progress. But now I’m finally getting to the parts where they’re walking in earnest.

As I crested over another false climb and around more winding paths, suddenly I could see the destination… Hot Springs. Hot Springs, for those unfamiliar, is the first town on trail that is literally ON the trail — the trail winds through the whole town. It also unfortunately marks more signs of Hurricane Helene’s destruction. A few months ago, there were many reports and videos detailing how much of the town of Hot Springs was flooded. However, the view from the south side showed a town rebuilding. (I wish this held true forever… but my spoiler for tomorrow is that this side only has part of the picture)

Right as I hit Hot Springs, the spurt of energy I had completely left my body, and I could feel the aches and pains of what I’d put myself through. 18 miles in 6 hours and 40 minutes isn’t a joke. While I love speed since it lets me stay off my feet with more breaks… that’s dependent on breaks. Which I, again, didn’t take due to rain. Ah well.

The four of us checked into Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn, a renowned hostel in a BEAUTIFUL old hotel. Famously, Earl Shaffer had stayed there before. It’s run by the eponymous Elmer, and managed by Chris, a thru hiker who very recently finished his SOBO attempt. Chris was applying for jobs after law school, but was helping out Elmer while it’s NOBO season. And to help out in Hot Springs in general. Very cool guy. He also gave us a quick low-down of the state of Hot Springs…

Not much of Hot Springs remains open, except the Smoky Mountain Diner mere feet from Elmer’s, so that’s where we head! As we were inside, Danielle and I saw a bolt of lightning hit the parking lot, and what sounded like cannon fire reverberate through the valley! Rains inevitable, but man, am I glad we missed this one. It started hammering the restaurant, and I could hear the rain throughout the night.

The diner was running something it called the “Appalachian Challenge.” Three 8 oz patties on a burger, and if you finish you get an apple cobbler.

Long story short? Someone went to sleep with a full stomach of patties and apple cobbler. And it might be yours truly.

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