Date: 2013-04-30
From: Campsite in unnamed gap

To: Near Rich Mountain Lookout Tower
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I broke camp in the early morning, up before the other hikers. Assuming I was camped exactly where I thought I was, I had exactly 11 miles into the town of Hot Springs, NC, which the AT passed directly through. I had a short ascent to the summit of Bluff Mountain (EL= 4,686-ft), then what appeared to be mostly downhill to flat. On the descent off the northern flank of Bluff Mountain, I passed by Cheese Steak and the remainder of the "Marathon Monday" gang, camped out just off the trail side. It was around 8:30am and they were just rising to the early morning sun. Somewhere north of Bluff Mountain, I also caught up with Pack Rat once again. Pack Rat, whom I believed I mentioned earlier is a young man from Tennessee, if I recalled correctly, carrying a precarious looking pack with a cheap roll-up sleeping bag half stuffed in a garbage bag and dangling off the bottom of his pack. He had stopped in the middle of the trail, and was mixing up some milky liquid that was apparently a protein mix. He had planned to hike the entire night into Hot Springs to replace a lost cell phone. I wondered why the rush! Nothing was going to be open at 3am, assuming he hiked the entire distance. It turned out, after speaking with him briefly, that he had hiked into the night, and slept very little on the trail side. I continued my fast pace northward, leaving Pat Rack and the Marathon Monday group behind. I made it to Hot Springs by about 11:30am and hiked north on the 209 through town until I reached the first visible diner along the way, The Smoky Mountain Diner. Another hiker was waiting out front for the diner to open for lunch. I brought my pack through the restaurant to the porch out back and joined a few other hikers for an early lunch. There were four of us together. Cobalt, a young man I had met back at Standing Bear, and a young German man from Hamberg. They ordered deep fried pickles for an appetizer. We all ordered the "hungry hiker" hamburgers. After lunch, I proceeded to the Hillbilly market around the corner and purchased several days of food to make it into Erwin, where my next food cache would be hopefully waiting. I repackaged food on the lawn across the street and carried my now, heavy pack further down the 209 into the heart of town, to the Bluff Mountain Outfitter. I purchased some new chord for hanging my food and a freeze dried meal. I sent a few post cards home at this point while recharging my phone outside the outfitter. While I was waiting, Sprouts came walking up from the Hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge where the AT first enters Hot Springs. She brought me the second item I had lost off my pack, this time, a sandal. As she began to head back to the hostel, I told her I'd buy her a beer at the Spring Creek Tavern across the street when she returned. I joined a large round table of hikers on the creek side porch for beer and appetizers. Included were "brain damage", "Cheese Steak", Rambo, and "Quinoa". I never saw Sprouts that afternoon, but figured she'd catch up with me later. I headed out of town finally by 3 pm, crossing the mirky, turbulent French Broad River, hooking a sharp right over the guard rail down the embankment and through a launch-site and recreation facility. The AT followed the swollen banks of the French Broad for about 0.5 miles, bounded on the shores by precipitous towers of solid rock, perhaps 150-vertical feet high. The trail then switchbacked steeply up slope, climbing precarious rocky ledges in places. I gazed back over the French Broad and Hot Springs one last time before picking up the pace to make it as far north as possible before darkness. I crossed 25/70 again, at Tanyard Gap overpass as it was nearing dusk. As I ascended Rich Mountain, I was hiking into darkness. Darkness had fallen the side trail to the lookout tower. In the distance across a gully, I saw a brilliant orange light in the distance. As I approached it I realized it was a campfire on the ridge top where I'd camp for the night. I set up the tent on a slippery slope. It then took me 30 minutes to untangle the new chord I had purchased. This was frustrating to say the least, given that it had not even been used yet! I must have spent at least another 30 minutes attempting to hang the chord over a branch in the pitch black, while the others had gone to bed. The branch, which seemed easily reachable from the topographic advantage of being upslope of the tree, was deceptive in darkness. Time seemed like an infinity due to my exhaustion. My depth perception was impaired as was my balance stepping on the flanks of a steep slope covered in slippery leaves. I gave up trying after nearly 45 minutes invested, realizing it was futile at this point. I placed my food beneath the tent vestibule and covered it with my sweaty parka, hoping to mask the odor from bears and other wildebeests that could be lurking in darkness. I fell to sleep quickly.