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- Hiked Today: 11 miles
- Appalachian Trail (264.5 – 275.5)
- Total Hiked: 2,200 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 48 – 75°F, sunny and clear and absolutely wonderful
Elevation: 1,320 – 4,680 feet
Bluff Mountain to Hot Springs Campground
The first hour of hiking today was one of my most favorite early morning walks on the AT yet. Simply beautiful. The mountainside forest floor was lush with a carpet of green foliage and the sunrise lit it all up. The pretty scenes were causing me to stop continuously and investigate close up or take a photo. This was counter productive to the speedy morning plans I’d concocted… I was hoping to get into town early for breakfast!
Despite the scenery delays, I somehow pulled off the not-so-classic 10 miles before 10:00 am. This is a rarity for me, but all the ingredients were in place to make it happen… mostly downhill, gradual, clear trail, with no blow downs, nice weather, and most importantly, a highly recommended diner at the bottom serving breakfast!
That’s right, I pushed it to town for hot food and made it happen. Smoky Mountain Diner was top notch and a fun atmosphere full of hikers. Oddly though, I didn’t jump in with others because, A) I hadn’t met any of these folks yet, and B) I was content to just have some solo time still.
Western omelette! I forgot I was in the east I guess.
Part of the reason I wasn’t feeling very social was that nearing town I got cell service and discovered some news that got me all frazzled. It was nothing major regarding anyone’s health or anything like that, but it got me in a funk for most of the rest of the day.
After breakfast, and after a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to deal with this unwelcome news, I tried to resupply. It turned out that the Dollar General finally let me down though. Their Wi-Fi was down which apparently means they go cash only. Already in a frustrated mood, I decided to continue down the road.
I decided to check in at the Hot Springs Resort and Spa. They offer camping for $15 that includes laundry and shower access. Seemed like a solid deal to me and it’s right in town. After getting all set though, I spent another few hours sitting on their porch using Wi-Fi since I wasn’t getting any cell service in town. Unsuccessful in my mission of dealing with the off-trail stuff mentioned above, I finally relented and tried to put it behind me for the time being. Next up was switching gears to laundry, shower, and setting up my tent.
At 5:15 pm ish, with my town tasks mostly done (laundry was still in the dryer so I was using some loaner clothes), I started walking out to the road. There, right on time, surprise… my friend Fae drove out to meet me and say hey!!! Fae is another friend from my days with the Utah Conservation Corps and has been living nearby in Asheville, NC area for the past few years. So, after a quick stop back at the DG for me to grab some supplemental resupply items (the credit card machine was up and running now… I knew DG wouldn’t let me down), we decided to hit up the diner again!
Sadly, Hot Springs was hit pretty hard by the Hurricane Helene. A lot of the downtown was still boarded up, but the folks here seem resilient and it’s pretty wild how much has recovered. Later on, I’d look up some videos to see what it was like immediately after the hurricane and flooding. Here’s a video with drone footage of the town.
The diner was full of hikers again. It was super nice to connect and catch up and laugh and reminisce and get into deep convos, even if it was just a few hours… it was special. I feel so lucky to be getting all these visits on trail! Afterwards, we walked town a bit and then I was helped to some carting around, picking up my laundry and bringing me back towards the building with Wi-Fi. Twas a wonderful visit ☺️
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