Date: 2009-04-14
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: light rain

Truckin' has a very distinctive toothpaste spit, so I knew it was her in the bathroom getting ready early in the morning. By the time I had gotten ready, she had already hit the trail... Oh, well. I wanted to enjoy another delicious breakfast and do a couple more last minute chores in town. We had some unbelievably delicious ginger pancakes (with cardamom, cinammon, flaxseed, and I don't know what else) along with our cereal, juice, coffee, and canteloupe. I went back up to my beautiful little room for my final packing and took one more look around. I did not make good use out of this room. I did not even once sit down at the desk. There just never seems to be enough time. I went downstairs to pay and say goodbye and the tears came welling up. Elmer asked me to sign the guestbook, so I took it to the living room to read over. All of the comments were so beautiful and appreciative, and soon the tears could no longer be contained. Although I did not talk with anyone much at Elmer's or particularly bond with the place, something about it struck a chord deep inside of me and I just did not want to say goodbye! It seems that I was feeling that I could find no place better than this- a place that was built upon unbelievably tasty and healthy food, good people, music, great books, and good living. What more was there to want? Jenny told me to take a break, relax, go see the ducklings, and enjoy the house for awhile. Even if I started hiking in the afternoon, I could still make it to the next shelter 11 miles away.   For the rest of the day, the tears welled up everytime I thought about leaving that place, even though I was perfectly happy to be back on the trail. The morning was nice, as I climbed up over Hot Springs, passing Flamethrower and Smurfette, but it did not take long for the dark clouds to roll in and for the rain to fall. I took several unfruitful sidepaths that day, and made the climb to the freezing cold, wet firetower just for the cell service. Somewhere in the past week, I pinched a nerve in my pelvic area from my hipbelt, and the pain was shooting down and spreading out in my hip flexor area. It seems that I get one hour with my pack on before the nerve starts screaming and stops me in my tracks, forcing me to release my pack. Then, I struggle on and off for the rest of the day. I should have grabbed one of the extra ginger pancakes to have as a snack on the trail, but I felt satiated when I left, and knew I had plenty of food in my pack. Next time...!   When I arrived at Spring Mountain shelter, the rain was coming down, and the inhabitants were trying to make room for Rattler. St. Patty offered me the (muddy) floor...(Ummm...no,thanks!) before offering me his floor space, and agreeing to take the ground where his dog was already sleeping. But I had decided at the beginning of the day that I would sleep in my hammock as it had felt like a million years since I had done so! So, I told Truckin' (she had stopped early due to the weather..yay!) that I would camp about a mile up the trail and would see her in the morning. I continued on, as the rain fell harder. I saw one possible camp site on the side of the trail, but one of the trees was too wide to tie my hammock to, so I continued on. I finally came to a gap, and decided I was stopping there! I tied up my tarp, and then my hammock. All I wanted to do was crawl inside my sleeping bag, get warm, and snack inside. I did not want to cook out in the rain, brush my teeth, tie up my food bag, or take out my contacts. It took a long time to warm up, as I hadn't taken off my wet fleece jacket... As soon as the sun went down, I heard the animals...loud owls and something that sounded like an elephant repeatedly sneezing or a hyena...(just as long as it didn't come near me, I was okay with it). I got out of my hammock to go to the bathroom, bring in my cookpot (I slept with my foodbag and other bag of stuff), and hunkered down for a cold, wet, lonely night...