Date: 2013-05-12
From: Deer Park Shelter

To: Hot Springs then home
Miles today: 3.3
Weather: few clouds

Day 14: Deer Park Shelter to Hot Springs & Home"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop." (Lewis Carrol);For Rider: ¢A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.¢ (Bob Dylan); To all my newly made AT Friends (sung with feeling): "Now it¢s time to say goodbye to all our company. M-I-C; see you real soon. K-E-Y; why? because I like youM-O-U-S-E." (Disney Mickey Mouse Club theme); To Boo: "To infinity and beyond!"<3 you!I¢m not going to lie- I have no ¢final day¢ journal entry to which I may refer before blathering on. So I¢m sorry, you will just have to put up with my memory, which I¢ve read has a tendency to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. So¢¦ here goes! I don¢t remember what time I woke up, but I figure it was not much different than any other day, let¢s call it 6:30. The rain had indeed stopped during the night and the wind did a reasonably good job of drying all but a small section of my tent. I threw my tent fly over the clothesline and finished packing everything else while it dried. I was awake before anyone else in our area and so it was pretty quiet, it was nice. We had all talked about going into town for a big breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Since I¢ve been there before, I totally vouch for the place as MOST EXCELLENT!Within maybe an hour or so, Rider was up and then Alana, and then as the area got a little noisier, other hikers came out of their tents too. I said goodbye to Chase and his dad as they headed back to the trail for Hot Springs. I limited the amount I ate and drank to save room for breakfast. Alana left next and said she would meet us at the Diner. Rider and I took off, maybe 30 minutes later. Although the map says it¢s all downhill. We¢ve covered that lie before. It was up and down initially and then mostly down until we came to the parking area across from Laughing Heart Hostel. I dropped all my gear into the trunk, changed out of my boots; then continued to walk with Rider down to the main street where we immediately ran into the Diner. Alana was sitting on the front porch with a vat of coffee in her hand. Day 14- FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!!!! Breakfast was great, followed by a walk to the Bluff Mtn Outfitter (good people!) and then I changed my plans for the day¢¦ but in a good way. See I had planned to have breakfast, do a quick stop at the outfitter just to see what they had, and then jump in the car and head home. Early this morning however, I was talking with Nobody and his wife (the folks with the dogs) and they were trying to figure out how to get to Damascus, they had had enough of hiking in the area and wanted to see Virginia before exceeding their budget. Well hell, I was going that way so why not?! So about 12:30, three humans and as many doggies piled into my car and went for a 2.5 hour joy ride to the lovely town of Damascus. I dropped them off at Mt. Rogers Outfitters and started my long drive back home, all alone. It was different, since last night (and with the exception of my time asleep), I had been surrounded by people, there was laughter, music, conversation and now I was alone, only XM radio to keep me company.I got home pretty late and finally took a shower for the day. It was great to see my sweetheart again and we traded some stories for a little while about our respective travels. Gear would wait until tomorrow and I would start going through all the photos and my journal as well. It was an enjoyable, sometimes frustrating but never dull two weeks. Thank you to everyone that made that trip possible and memorable. Best wishes to members of the Class of 2013- Frodo, Skywalker, Alana, Rider, Thumper, Fire Hydrant, Nobody and family, Slow Go¢en, Sis and anyone I¢ve inadvertently missed. Look forward to celebrating your summit of Katahdin!Day 14- Made it!!!! 70% of the AT now complete!Goodnight from my own bed, in my own place and all cleaned up! My body may be here but as I get ready to sleep, my feet travel north again, revisiting the section I hiked last year if only to remain on the trail in my mind- just a little longer. More photos for day 14 of the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler_Day14