Date: 2009-05-05
From: Deer Park Mountain Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: light rain

This morning, we woke up very early to set off to Hot Springs. Bob, or Shelby Hiker, had been snoring quite a bit last night and when he walked away to get ready for the day, Beaver bellowed ¢Gosh, I was about to kill that guy last night¢. I had slept next to Bob the night before and had already experienced the rumbling. Entering into Hot Springs, it was great to be back in a community again with houses and stores and restaurants. We initially tried to have breakfast at Elmers that morning, but Elmer, the owner of the B&B/hostel, came out and told us that breakfast was only for guests due to the legality of his business not being a restaurant. So, we headed across the street to the local diner, where we devoured a 2-person skillet filled with American cheese, ham, onions, mushrooms with eggs and toast on the side ¢ all for the wonderful price of $6.50. While in town, I saw Wolfpack and Strider. Strider had to head up to Buffalo, NY as one of his uncles had passed. Our thoughts and prayers are with you bud. Wolfpack had been pulling some big 20-mile days, but he wasn¢t staying in town to enjoy the springs. Once Kristen, Pilgrim¢s sister, arrived, along with her Ecuadorian friend Gustavo, we headed across the street to the local bar for a quick beer. Finding a spot to tie up Jack seemed to be a bit of a problem, but we somehow managed to make it work until another one of Kristen¢s friends came with a truck. The springs were absolutely phenomenal. The only other thermals that I¢ve been to was in Tabacon and Baldi, close to the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica. For five people, we had our own tub, in which the water was heated by what the attendant believes to be thermal activity. I wouldn¢t be surprised if they just heated up the water. Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed the rest and relaxation of the warm natural springs; we even jumped out of the tub and headed down the steep embankment to the cold and raging river, where we threw ourselves in to feel the stark contrast of hot and cold water. After freezing for a good 20 seconds, we all laboured up the side of the cliff and back into the warm confines of the hot tub. Afterwards, my legs felt absolutely phenomenal. Gustavo ended up taking us back to Asheville, where we did laundry, showered up (we still stank horrendously), and cleaned up our filthy bags. Then, it was off to sushi in downtown Asheville! After stuffing ourselves full with tons of fresh raw fish, we headed off to barhop around the city, before making it to one of the young clubs in the city. There was a good 200 people in the club and the band that came on had a great funkadelic beat. We were all up dancing away. My clothing was a bit scandalous, as I was wearing bright orange Crocs, high hiking socks, shorts that came up to my mid-thigh, and a tight long-sleeve athletic shirt. And, I probably still stank pretty bad. Funny enough, a girl that was dancing was very much interested in getting together, but I had to explain that I was hiking the Appalachian Trail and wasn¢t into it. But man, that music was just phenomenal! Great brass section just pounding it out! We finally made it back home at 3 am, before listening to Kristen¢s neighbour Johnny, a 38-year-old Dead Head, just rock out on the guitar. He was soo good. I think that the others fell asleep somewhere around 5 or 6 am. Damn I¢m glad that I managed to get a few hours of sleep.