Day 27 – 13.2 miles hiked (trail mile 275)
The water on the AT is so clear, cold, and abundant!
We powered through a 13-mile descent into Hot Springs, stopping to rest on a big mossy rock just before the final descent. At the turn off for Gragg Shelter we stopped at a tiny cemetery for two people sharing the last name Gragg. One of the tombstones was very old, dating from 1882-1940.
Today was our first hint of warmer weather to come, with temps reaching the high 70’s. By the time we made it to Hot Springs we were both exhausted. It is obvious that spring has arrived in this town; many of the trees and bushes were in full bloom and daffodils and periwinkles lining the sidewalks had flowered.
Our inn is incredible. Chris wanted to stay here because he has fond memories from staying here on his first thruhike in 2005. As luck would have it, it is still run by the same owner, Elmer. Elmer thruhiked the AT in 1976 and stayed here when the inn was operating under its former, by then elderly, owners. He stayed in touch with them, and a couple years later they asked him if he would like to take over its operation. He obliged, and has been running the inn ever since.
Elmer, owner of Sunnybank Inn
The house was built in 1875 and is considered the oldest home in Hot Springs. It has a long and rich history as a boarding house. Some of its most famous guests include the Song Catcher Cecil Sharpe who recorded southern ballads that had formally only been passed down orally, and Earl Shaefer, who was (by most accounts) the first person to successfully thruhike the AT in 1948. The house is Italian Victorian style, with 6 porches, many rooms full of antiques, and an enchanting library full of obscure books.
We are lucky to have snagged a reservation as they are limiting occupancy to 4, from the original 12, due to the pandemic. On April 1, peak hiker season around here, they are going to start serving vegetarian house meals again, too.
After hot showers we walked to the only restaurant that was open in town, the Iron Horse. Here we ran into just about every hiker that we’ve been hiking around since the Smokies, including Team Rocket, Snapshot and Spots, Hothands and Spider, Blue Jacket, and Heath. We also finally met Bee, a solo female hiker that we had first seen coming out of the NOC about a hundred miles back. She is on sabbatical from her job and is going to see how far she can get in 12 weeks.
We got a table with Bee, and Colgate and Carter (the two staying at the inn in the room next to us) and enjoyed huge greasy meals with a fried green tomato appetizer - Chris’s first time trying the dish!
Carter and Colgate
Day 28: 0 miles hiked (trail mile 275) – our first Zero!
Our morning was spent tracking down breakfast and running errands. We visited the outfitter a few blocks from our inn, placed literal inches away from the AT which passes straight through downtown Hot Springs. In preparation for the rising temperatures I purchased a hiking skirt with mesh shorts underneath, and a pair of ultralight waterproof mittens to go over my liner gloves. Tomorrow we will mail home a few pieces of gear we’ve decided not to carry, including my heavy-duty winter gloves, which have proven too hot to hike in even in the coldest temperatures, Chris’s fleece pants, and a few other miscellaneous items.
We settled in for brunch at the restaurant next door to the outfitter and ate Greek and quinoa salads on their patio, supplemented by snacks from the outfitter. Rocket Man and Gandalf passed us on their way out of town; we will likely catch up with those guys much farther down the trail.
After brunch we went back to our inn where I took some time to sit in the garden and write postcards. Later we joined up with Chris’s Uncle Fred and Aunt Denise, who have been road tripping since January in celebration of Denise’s retirement and just happened to be in our area. They came bearing a birthday package from my sister, loaded with all kinds of trail goodies, and a fluffy cookie with a candle stuck on the outside so I can have a birthday cake on trail!
We walked to Big Pillow Brewing and had some tacos for dinner, then followed it up with an hour-long soak in the Mineral Hot Spring fed baths that the town is named for. The group tub was giant and in our own private gazebo; we hung out with Fred and Denise and chatted until we pruned. Fred regaled us with fascinating stories from his career as a medical examiner.
Day 29: 10.9 miles hiked (trail mile 285.9)
Fred picked us up at 8am so we could join him and Denise at their campground for breakfast. They made us pancakes with all kinds of toppings and then Denise made biscuits right on the spot in their camper toaster oven with the extra flour mix!
A delicious home-cooked breakfast with Fred and Denise
Chris’s aunt Sylvia who lives a couple hours from Hot Springs arrived around noon with her boyfriend Robert. Together we all went to lunch at a restaurant by the river and sat on the patio to dine. It was wonderful to spend a bit of time with Chris’s family on the trail and they sent us off with full bellies and hearts.
Chris with Denise, Fred, Robert and Sylvia
We hiked out of Hot Springs around 3pm and climbed back into the mountains. We later visited Rich Mountain fire tower a little ways off the trail just in time to catch the sunset view. We encountered a guy who was just leaving, and informed us that he had lost his baggy of weed up there and that if we found it we could keep it (we didn’t find it).
We were determined to make it to the first shelter 11 miles north of Hot Springs so that we could make use of the bear cables with our ridiculously heavy, freshly stocked food bags. This meant we got to do our first bit of night hiking! After about an hour and a half of hiking with our headlamps on we made it to the shelter where we swiftly took care of camp chores and climbed into our tent.
Day 30: 16 miles hiked (trail mile 301.9)
This morning we were up and out of camp by 8am with the intent of breaking down camp before the rains hit. We hiked 8 miles to the next shelter so we could eat our lunch out of the rain. At the shelter we ran into Smoky and a couple of section hikers. They told us the weather was supposed to get worse overnight and they decided to hunker down where they were. But the shelter faced directly into the wind and even while eating lunch we were getting soaked by the rain being blown into the shelter, so we decided to take our chances and do 8 more miles to the next shelter. We passed some signs that indicated that it’s Peregrine Falcon nesting season and to be on the lookout when hiking near cliffs!
In the next section we hiked a mountain ridge along Big Firescald Knob. We encountered some rock scrambles, high winds, and amazing views all around. We got super lucky and climbed that section during a brief break in the rain and fog.
Ranger Chris is in his element out here!
Fueled by our good fortune we powered through the final miles to our campsite near Jerry’s Cabin shelter. The shelter was already completely full, so we opted to tent a short distance from the shelter in case we needed to bail out in the night. We snacked inside our tent and shared my birthday cake (cookie) for dinner to avoid dealing with the stove in the rain. Ranger heroically put his rain gear back on and ventured out into the rain one last time to hang the bear bag and double check for widow-makers, since the storm was picking up serious momentum outside.
Day 31: 15.6 miles hiked (trail mile 317.5)
The storm absolutely raged outside our tent all night long. I was grateful for my earplugs. At one point I took them out thinking the storm must have died down and was greeted with a storm roaring so loud that it sounded like a train was on top of us. Earplugs back in. When we woke up the next morning nearly everything we owned ranged from soggy to soaked. Since the sun had come out, we decided to take our time getting out of camp and let our things air dry, draped over the tree branches around our site.
While relaxing around camp Smokey came hiking by, reporting that the shelter we had stopped to eat lunch at yesterday had been a miserably wet occasion. We are relieved that we weathered it in a tent instead. We also met one of the hikers that stayed in the shelter nearest us. His name was Quiver because of his ultralight backpacking set up which looked like an arrow quiver.
We finally set out to hike around 11:30, but thanks to the sections of relatively easy terrain were able to make it just under 16 miles regardless of the late start. We stopped for lunch about 8 miles in, and enjoyed sundried tomatoes on triscuits, with a whole myriad of other snacks to accompany them… the birthday gift that keeps on giving!
Nature makes the best art.
It was a beautiful day for hiking; you would never have guessed how wet and foggy yesterday was. I was able to try out my skort and was elated by how lightweight, airy, and non-obtrusive it is. After lunch we experienced our first fence crossing into pasture. Apparently, these become very common once you reach some of the flatter states.
As we climbed along a waterfall, we spotted a salamander (or maybe a newt?). Before cresting the mountain we met Lemon and Hiccup, a couple hikers who had gotten off around Hot Springs last year and were a week into their second attempt at hiking the trail, having picked up right where they left off.
Just before dark we made it to Hogback Ridge shelter and got our tent set up. We ate a pad thai Backpacker Pantry meal and listened to coyotes in the distance under a bright full moon.
Day 32: 16.5 miles hiked (trail mile 334)
We broke down camp and were moving by 8:30 to cover good miles before another storm was expected to hit. The day was uneventful until we reached Big Bald Mountain, an aptly named .5 mile stretch of a mountain bald (meaning no trees, just 360 views).
About half a mile from the bald we felt the wind suddenly pick up. To our left, through the trees, we witnessed a wall of darkness rushing toward the mountainside. We immediately scrambled to put on our rain gear: raincoat, rain paints, water socks, pack covers, rain gloves. Chris skipped the water socks to his later regret and didn’t have time to get gloves out of his pack before the front was upon us. Temperatures instantly plummeted, thunder and lightning cracked overhead, and the rain went from a couple drops to a downpour and then pea-sized hail in less than a minute. A group of dayhikers passed us, all whipping out their raincoats and proceeding down the mountain. I had to laugh at this display of mountain preparedness which must be engrained into the people who live in this region. (Hailing from the plains of central Texas, I can count on how many mountains I’ve climbed on one hand, so this is all entirely new to me).
As we hiked along in the storm, Chris gave me a verbal crash course in CPR (in case one of us were to be struck by lightning) which I’m certain I will retain for once because it was conducted under such pressure!
After a few minutes of waiting at treeline, Big-Bald in sight, the lightning and thunder started to sound farther away, and we decided to venture onto the mountaintop. Adrenaline pumping, we rushed over the half-mile bald as quickly as we could. Our rain gear cracked in the wind, drops pelted our faces like a million little needles, and we were buffeted about like rag dolls despite the added weight of our packs. My feet screamed in pain but slowing down wasn’t an option. We were flooded with relief when we reached the treeline on the other side of the bald. A short distance into the woods we reached the next shelter and were able to sit down for a hodgepodge lunch during the subsequent break in the rain.
After lunch we walked another 8-ish miles until the sun began to set. Because thruhiking means you hike through it, emphasized by popular sayings like “No pain, no rain, no Maine” or simply, “Embrace the suck.” During the last leg of our hike, we found a nice red Marmot rain jacket that someone must have dropped, and will carry it with us to Erwin. If we don’t find the owner, it will go in the hiker box. We filled our water in a beautiful waterfall-fed pool which would make a great swimming hole in better weather.
Exhausted, we found a little unofficial campsite just off the trail with a perfectly flat tent site tucked underneath a hemlock tree. It felt like something out of a dream. We were granted a very brief break in the rain during which we managed to throw the tent up and dive inside. We opted for a couple cold trail snacks for dinner, took care of camp chores as quickly as possible, and turned in for the night.
Too trying of a day for photographs.
Day 33: 10.2 miles hiked (trail mile 344.2)
It was raining by the time we broke camp at 8:30. We thanked our hemlock tree campsite for appearing just when we needed it the most and joked that it must magically appear for thruhikers only in times of great need.
Smoky passed us first thing in the morning with a smile on her face; she is running a 34 mile section in the rain. We are in awe of her unwavering energy and positivity and agree that we both want to be like her “when we grow up”.
We ate snacks for lunch and powered through a mostly downhill, and still rainy, 10 miles to Uncle Johnny’s Hostel. It is a stone’s throw from the trail before the Nolichucky River crossing. The river is swollen with floodwaters.
At the hostel we were reunited with Team Rocket and Bee. Our little cabin is just what we needed to be able to lay out all our gear to dry. The whole hostel is quite charming and the people who work here are so warm and friendly. We took some time to do our laundry, shower in the community bathrooms, and then wash our dishes in the outdoor kitchen.
After chores we caught the shuttle to town where we resupplied for the next section of trail and ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The level of appreciation we have for restaurant food is remarkable; the trail makes even the smallest things you used to take for granted about civilization feel like downright luxury.
Once we returned to the hostel, we retired to our cabin to prepare for a 20 mile slackpack the next day. We had cereal for a late night snack; a product of one of our rambling trail conversations (often about food) where we discovered a shared love of Golden Grahams.
