Date: 2008-03-14
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter NC

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

Day 26 ¢ Friday, March 14 ¢ Hot Springs NC ¢ Miles Today: 13.1 Total Miles: 271.7It¢s town day, thus a huge drive to get an early start, which we did. We were up around 6:00 and on the trail by 6:40. It was still dark when we hit the trail. We had to make sure we tiptoed past the shelter so as to not awaken Bare Fodder. The darkness for the first half hour made it a bit tricky finding the trail at times, but we did fine. In the beginning of the day, we had our normal series of inclines but as the day progressed, we began our decline into Hot Springs. It was neat hiking down the mountainside and being able to see the town of Hot Springs in the valley below us. We tried to pick out where the main road was, where we might be eating, where the infamous Elmer¢s Sunnybank Inn was, where our motel is located, etc. As we entered town, we detoured off the AT for a trip to the library. A ¢quick¢ email to all of our readers and 45 minutes later we are back on the AT heading through town. Next stop, Post Office. We scored two surprise care packages; one from Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper stuffed full of Oreos, a large bag of M & Ms and a large bag of trail mix; and one from Grasshopper¢s boss that contained dark chocolate sticks. Boy, are we happy and excited campers! Thanks so much. Coming out of the Post Office we ran into Bare Fodder, sitting by the Train Depot Visitors Center waiting for his wife. We offered him some of our care package, but he declined!Next we scoped out where we will do our laundry tomorrow, bought fuel at the Outfitter (at a ridiculous price per ounce), and checked out Dollar General. We may just head back to Dollar General later today to get some pizza to cook in our microwave for dinner. Brakeman's stomach is still not fully recovered from the flu bug but we're hoping that he'll be back to 100% soon. It¢s been a long road to recovery.Next stop ¢¦ our motel! The ¢cabin¢ was really just a doublewide trailer, but nicely done with hardwood floors, two double beds with quilts on them, a microwave, refrigerator and coffeepot.   We're living high! Our front window overlooks the mountains and the railroad tracks, which are probably just 50 yards away. A few trains noisily rolled by during our stay, but they were neat to watch. The back door overlooks the creek. There¢s a guest book that shows a lot of visitors enjoying wedding anniversaries, honeymoons, and annual trips to this area.It clouded up as the day progressed and eventually by late afternoon there were a few sprinkles but nothing heavy. It was during these afternoon rains that we saw a double rainbow out the front window of our little cabin. The double rainbow was closer than we have ever seen one. It actually looked like it was just over the railroad tracks, which again were just 50 yards away. A very, very cool experience. The colors were crystal clear; you could really see the individual R-O-Y-G-B-I-V colors. We got a picture hope it will turn out. For dinner we headed back to Dollar General and picked up some pizzas to microwave in our motel room. Sure do miss the pizzas!   We also picked up some cranberry juice, as Grasshopper is concerned that she may have a bladder infection. We inquired about a pharmacy in town but were disappointed to learn that there is no pharmacy near by. Let¢s hope for the best!We're looking forward to Mr. & Mrs. Brakeman¢s arrival tomorrow. We asked them to bring us a picnic lunch and dinner so we can just hide out in the room most of the day, relaxing and visiting rather than running around town. Can¢t wait to see them and what they bring!We've reworked the schedule for Erwin and then onto Kincora and Damascus to slow it down a bit. We had some back-to-back 22-mile days and a couple 19-mile days on the original plan. We¢ve decided that is not the type of hike we want to do, at least right now, so we'll play it by ear and see what happens.Goodnight from Hot Springs.