Date: 2007-04-26
From: Walnut Mt Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We squeezed Choch in next to me and SideShow last night because we didn't want to leave a girl out in the woods by herself. BAD IDEA! I slept probably 2 hours last night and in 20 minute segments no less. It was hot and cramped and I was on a slope. Need I say more? I won't because it will be too bad for the sensors. We all got up at 5am & packed up and blasted out of camp just before 6am. We hiked the first mile or so with our headlamps on because it was still dark. Night hiking rulz! Very fun! I tried to make it to the top of Bluff Mt. to catch the sunrise but missed it by 15 minutes. My ankle was hurting for a while this morning but by the top of the mountain I was doing almost 3 mph. And I'll tell you why...last night Grizzle got us the hook up with some serious trail magic. His buddy Jonah met us at Garenflo Gap with 24 MdDonalds breakfast biscuits and a 12 pack of soft drinks. I thought I died and went to biscuit heaven! I ate 3 of different flavors and pounded a coke. He had a truck so he loaded our 9 packs into the bed and we grabbed just our trekking poles and slackpacked the last 7 miles into Hot Springs, NC. We were supposed to meet him there at 9am for breakfast. We got to Garenflo Gap by 8am & he got there 2 minutes later. We were both an hour early. I hadn't slackpacked yet so it was cool hiking without a pack. We got into Hot Springs by 11am. 13.1 miles before noon. Yeah Baby! So thank you Jonah, you rule! We checked into the Alpine Court hotel here in town & got some rooms. It's Choch, Grizzle, SideShow & me in one room, ByteCode, BigBy, Tennessee Jed and I-AM-NOT in the other room. We went & bought a bunch of beer at the nearby gas station and posted up on the lawn outside our rooms. There are a lot of hikers pouring into town today. I'm glad we beat everyone in. We partied outside the rooms for a while until we checked out the Bluff Mt Outfitters. Nice place for sure. I bought a kilt there and it's probably the best thing I've ever bought. I'll wear a kilt to the day I die because they are so comfortable. SideShow, Patches, and SirPaul bought kilts too. We gathered up probably 15 or more of us hikers and headed to the Paddler's Pub for some good times. A couple of pizzas and a couple of pitchers and Grizzle & I were having a blast. We kicked that jukebox on and got rowdy. We were all singing Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Jr, Lynrd Skynard. We had a ton of fun. SirPaul and I slayed Grizzle & SideShow in a game of pool. We cashed out and walked outside to the parking lot & the bar set up a nice bonfire outside. We chilled next to that for a while. They planned it well because I think we all went back inside and got another pint or two before we stumbled down mainstreet back to the hotel room. We had a lot of fun. People shouldn't have this much fun. It ain't conducive to good behavior. Ahh, I loved it, who am I kiddin!BIG WHEELS KEEP ON TURNIN'!BigShantyP.S. I forgot to tell you about this drunk guy at the bar that was falling all over the floor in front of me while I'm trying to play pool. He pissed me off so I grabbed him by the left arm and drug his drunk ass out into the middle of the parking lot via the back door.