Date: 2013-05-10
From: Allen Gap

To: Hot Springs 
Miles today: 14.8

What an exhausting day! I'm really wiped out, but it was a good day nevertheless. I walked almost 15 miles today, and in about 10 hours, which is probably record distance and record time for me, but it gets an asterisk by the record, because I was slackpacking. How do some people routinely walk that far and farther, on a daily basis? Chuck Norris from Laughing Heart Hostel drove usnorth from Hot Springs to Allen Gap, myself, Nightingale, Treasure Hunter and his sister Catskill, and one other hiker I didn't know. We then walked south to Hot Springs with ridiculously light packs on our backs, like kids going to school with our sweaters, rain gear, water, etc. It felt great! The hike started out with a long uphill, of course. The weather was perfect. We came to a shelter that was filthy, and it made me mad and I left what I hope was a scathing commentary in the shelter log, telling hikers to have some pride in themselves and PACK OUT THEIR OWN TRASH! It is embarrassing that grown people will leave their trash in a shelter, as if their mother was going to come along behind them and clean up.While we're sort of on that subject, I'm now in the area of the dreaded hiker virus. The stretch of trail from Hot Springs to Erwin has been home to a nasty GI virus for a while now, affecting lots of hikers with symptoms that can last a couple of weeks, and leave you too weak to hike for longer yet. I had hoped it would all be over by the time I got here, but it isn't. The ATC has had crews out bleaching the shelters and privvies, and the health department has been checking up on all the shelters. I will be a maniac about keeping my hands clean. Anyway, we hiked along, and I discovered one drawback to warm weather. Bugs. I don't know what this common North Carolina bug is. It isn't a fly, a mosquito, or a gnat, but it combines the worst characteristics of all three: buzzing, biting, and the inclination to fly into my nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. Every hiker I saw today had his own little personal swarm of them, like Pigpen and his cloud of dust in the Peanuts cartoons. Some people were using DEET, but I just can't put all thatchemical on my skin, and they were saying it wasn't helping anyway. I will see St. Mike again in a week and a half and I will get some of my own Bug Voyage from him and see how it works on these pests. The trail was interesting in the middle today, unfortunately it was raining at the time, but it really wasn't too bad, just a nice light cooling rain that drove away the bugs. The terrain was different than we are used to, and the change was nice. We had a walk down a pleasant country road, some pastures, and a pond. All very lovely, and a nice change of pace. Then the last part of the trail was challenging again. As we walked down to Hot Springs it was suddenly all steep and rocky and scary. We passed the romantically named Lover's Leap. From all of these steep cliffs we could see the rocking and rolling French Broad River churning down below. Finally we got down to the river level and walked beside it for awhile, then at last we walked right into town. We were wet with sweat and rain, hungry, and absolutely exhausted. That's life on the trail! Tomorrow I start a four or five day walk to Erwin, TN, and I will be in the woods the whole time, and unlikely to have cell service. If I don't post for a few days you will understand why, and I will catch you all up from Erwin. If any of you are considering doing some long distance hiking and need some incentive, here it is: hikers can eat anything they want, and as much as they want, and still lose weight.