Date: 2008-06-19
From: Hot Springs, NC 

To: Hemlock Hollow Farm
Miles today: 16.3

¢Snakes on a Helicopter and lost wallets¢ After a decent (not great) night¢s rest at the Hostel, Richard and I prepared for today¢s hike. It seems that the railway going through Erwin gets a lot of use. I¢m sure the locals are used to the train passing through every hour or so¢¦Richard and I are not. Today we are getting shuttled again by CD to Hot Springs, NC. From there we will backpack to Spivey and get a ride back to Erwin. As we arrive in Hot Springs I started to reflect getting off the trail here in 2007. I had such a great time and hoped this year¢s hike would produce the same result. We hiked from the parking lot into town and Richard wanted to stop in a local store only to discover he had left his wallet in the back seat of CD¢s truck. Quickly we call Uncle Johnny¢s and leave a message on his voice mail. Richard walked back to the parking lot in case he had dropped it on the way. No luck. We decided we would try again down the trail to reach Johnny. The climb out of Hot Springs was a good wake up call that the AT is demanding of all who wish to hike it. The views from above town and the French broad river were spectacular. It was again a day of hiking in the 70¢s. It was a tough yet rewarding day. As we scaled Rich Mountain we decided to take the side trail to the Fire Tower. A good call on our part. The climb up the tower provided two things: A fantastic panoramic view and a cell phone signal. I was able to call Johnny¢s and determine that Richard¢s wallet had been found. It was a great relief for both of us. Today we are headed to HemlockHollow Farm Shoppe and Cabins. It¢s a pretty tough 16.3 miles after slack-packing yesterday. There is a lot of controversy about the distance about the distance from HH and the trail. It is .5 miles from Log Cabin Drive. What you might not know is that you have to travel down a private drive to get to Log Cabin Drive. Either way let me say it was well worth it. Hattie and her husband are the proprietors of the farm. We had the hiker cabin (bunkhouse) to ourselves. The place is very very clean. Hattie also served us up a dinner which included Grilled chicken, home made potato salad and a fresh garden salad. We also had iced tea and ice cream for desert. The sleep here was great. A creek runs nearby the cabin and it lulls you into a great sleep. The next morning Hattie prepared us a great breakfast and then shuttled us back to the trail. As we talked to her she told us a story about how the National Forest service determined there were not enough Rattle snakes in the area near her farm. In their infinite wisdom they decided to drop the snakes from a helicopter to boost the population up. Snakes landed in a lot of undesirable places¢¦rooftops, porches and back yards. One local resident lost her pet dog to a snake bite. She shot the snake and took it to the local Ranger¢s office and demanded restitution. The Ranger responded by fining her $500 for killing the snake. I¢m checking into this one. It sounds like a story I have heard before. Imagine this: What if the actor Samuel L Jackson worked for the Forest Service and was piloting that helicopter. I can picture hit gritting his teeth and yelling in his radio ¢Enough is enough! I have HAD it with these M&^%$r F*%^$@g snakes on this M&^%$r F*%^$@g helicopter!¢ Gee that would make for a great movie. On a personal note my pinky toes are jamming into my boots when I go downhill. Both are blistered and starting to hurt. Last year when this happened I just faced forward and kept on going. It is like Yogi Berra said¢¦ ¢It¢s like De¢ja¢ Vue all over again.¢