Date: 2012-10-25
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Alpine Court Motel, Hot Springs, North Carolina
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: clear sky

I tried something new last night, and really something recommended, anyhow. Rather than just attaching my food bag to the bear cable, I ran my entire pack up the cable. That really gave me peace of mind, not concerning bears, but concerning the shelter mice. It helped me sleep better.Our hike today started off with a climb over rugged Firescald Knob. The mountain had good views, rocky scrambles (again, they are fun in small doses), and gnarly trees. The next peak had a fire tower, but we skipped it since a note said that it was closed to climbing. The descent down to Tennessee Rte. 70 / North Carolina Rte. 208 was very steep. Catch Up noticed an interesting sign at the highway. The sign offered trail magic in the form of a free meal on limited dates, and today happened to be one of those dates. The house hosting the trail magic was nearby, so, in spite of a long way to go to Hot Springs, we thought, "Why not?" We also noticed that at the bottom of the sign, a hiker had written something about having to listen to Bible readings as part of the deal. Being a Christian myself, that didn't bother me in the least, and I think Catch Up couldn't look away from the part of the sign that listed the menu items being offered. Sure enough, we found the home of former through-hikers Hercules and Fal, and we ate like kings. And, just as expected, our dessert came with a topping of Jesus. I wasn't sure how to respond, and I thought it would be nice to let them think they had possibly reached another soul. So, Catch Up and I listened politely and each took a book to read on our journey. We even talked about it some as we walked, so they at least got us to discuss the topic.   The climb from there to Spring Mountain was on the tough side, so we took a break at Spring Mountain Shelter where we met Junebug, a Wisconsin section hiker who was feeling pretty beat by the Smoky Mountains. We took another break at the next peak since it did have a fire tower open to climbing and had a nice view (as I guess fire towers should for, you know, seeing fires). After crossing US Rte. 70, we began to lose light just like the previous night. But, we had another pleasant night hiking experience, even though there were a few moments of anxiety as we scaled down Lovers Leap Rock, a very cliff-like outcrop, to get into Hot Springs. Once in town, we happened to follow three very fetching women down the street and got talking with them. They told us that we should join them at the restaurant they were going into, but we initially declined and tried the diner. The diner was closed, so Catch Up went to get a motel room and then we went back to the restaurant. Much to our surprise, the three women insisted on paying for our meals. I think they probably wished they could withdraw their offer, however, when the discussion turned toward politics (tis the season) and we did not find accord. Actually, Catch Up was smart and wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, whereas I jumped right in. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. I ended up crashing with Catch Up here since it got to be too late for me to head to a hostel or find a campsite.