Date: 2004-04-29
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a pretty memorable day as far as hiking and testing my limits go. Not only did I hike 26 miles, but I did it in really good time. I started around 8:10am and got to Hot Springs at 4:20pm. It wasn't really that I wanted to go fast, but as I was hiking I got really motivated by the thought of burgers and ice cream, and I wanted to get to that as soon as possible!6.5 miles into the day, I was on the top of Max Patch, which has got to be the most beautiful spot I've hit so far. I had to stop and take it in, so it was a well chosen place to take a break. After that, I was pretty much on cruise control for the rest of the way. I saw some deer on the trail, they ran away as soon as they saw me. After about 15 miles, I ran into Nightrider, which surprised me because him and Achilles (Tyler) had been going at it pretty fast. But he told me he was getting Shin Splints and that had slowed him down. I hiked the last 11 miles into Hot Springs with him. That guy was fast going uphill, I couldn't follow him! I could only catch up after.After getting to town, we were surprised to find that it was difficult to get a meal. No luck for us. The diner was closed because of a death in the family, and the cook at the pub was missing. So we had to wait for the Bridge Street Cafe to open at 5:30pm before we could have a good meal. But while we waited, we met this guy called Adam from Baltimore. He was driving back from Florida where he'd been working on a farm, so we got to sample some tropical fruits he had in his trunk. That was one of those unexpected things that was awesome.At 5:30pm, the Bridge Street Cafe opened and me and Nightrider went for dinner there. I got a burger and enjoyed every ounce of it. We met the owner of the Bridge Street, Yogi Master, who earned his trail name because he was so good at yogiing. On his thru-hike, he apparently yogied 2 cars among other things, no idea how the hell you could pull that off! Then I just chatted a bunch with Nightrider and we were later joined by Ronnie, Little Engine, and Impulse. Ronnie told us how he just kind of left everything in Miami to come hike the trail. He actually drove to Atlanta and then went to a place to sell his car and just sold it on the spot! I can't say enough about the people I meet on the trail. They come in all ages and walks of life, it's one of the coolest parts of being out here.I headed out with Nightrider after that to figure out a place to sleep. We didn't want to pay a lot to stay anywhere, so we ended up just tenting at the campground, the cheapest alternative. After a cold shower, we found out that there were other showers with hot water. Ain't that a bitch... We headed to the ice cream place to eat some more! I had a brownie sundae, followed by 2 scoops of ice cream. After that, most people were hanging out at the pub. Nightrider and I went back to the camp and waited for people to come around and party. While we waited, I gave my mom a call, it was the first time I talked to her after hitting the trail. It was nice to finally talk to her.People eventually got back to camp and we hung out around a fire drinking and talking. I was really tired so I didn't stay very long. Tomorrow I intend to have an easy day, get a good breakfast, do some laundry, go soak in the hot springs, re-supply, and send some emails. Then I figure I'll head out in the afternoon if I'm feeling up to it.