Date: 2015-04-24
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

Another goodbye to the Wife. I still hate them. She brought me new shoes, ziplock bags, and a new trash compactor bag for my pack. I feel like a new man. I tried to get her to sniff the old shoes but she wasnt into it.I left Hot Springs around 8:45 this morning while walking down the street and talking to her as she drove alongside. The flat road ended right after I crossed the French Broad River and the trail ducked down to the right to follow it for a quarter mile or so.We soon took the hard left and switchbacked up the mountain. It was only a mile or so to the top but after a day off and with a full food bag I was sweating. I stopped at the top to take my jacket off and had a talk about how cool Mrs. Rock Boat is with Two Bad Dogs.Once I gained the ridge the walking was pretty easy and there wasn't much of a climb until the trail crossed Hwy 70. I took a picture from the bridge since the same road runs right in front of my neighborhood.I got to Spring Mountain Shelter a little after one and had lunch with Glamper, Gorp Gobbler, Flapjack, Tunes, and a few others. Some of them stayed but it was too early and we were only 11 miles in.About 3 miles later I ran into Skip and his trail crew. He saw me coming down the trail and said, "this guy looks like he could use a candy bar". Who am I to say no? I talked to the group for a minute and felt bad when I said how bad the Smokies were. They said everyone had said that though. I swallowed the Snickers whole and Skip reached back in his bag to give me one for the road. I took a couple pictures for them, said thank you for their hard work and headed down to Allen Gap.On the road I could see a sign written in spray paint that said "Mom's". I remember hearing about it in Cambo's journal so I had to check it out. Unlike when they were there it was open. I walked inside to pretty much the sketchiest store in history. I talked to Mom for a minute, grabbed an overpriced soda and hit the road.A mile later I saw Glamper waving me down to see if I knew where the hostel was. I wasn't going but I remembered it mentioned in the guidebook. I told him there was no way I could have gone the mile and a half in 20 minutes. We got back on the trail and finally hit a dirt road and I could see a house from the trail. It wasn't the hostel but my book mentioned it as a landmark for where to turn to get there.He has the Thru Hikers Companion and I have Awol's AT Guide. His had no mention of any of the landmarks. In my general experience Awol's guide has been way better than the Companion. I only say this in case your looking to thru hike and questioning which guide to buy. I kept going to the shelter and made it here a little before 6:00. I pitched my tent on what might be the hardest ground ever. Oh well, everything out here is so temporary and I'm not too concerned.I'll finish the rest of the climb up Camp Creek Bald in the morning and the rest of the day doesnt look too bad. I'm at 294 right now so I'm thinking somewhere in the 310-313 mile range. Which means, you guessed it, 300 miles tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nasty so I'll just play it by ear, which is what I've done since the Smokies anyway.Have I mentioned how great new shoes are?