Date: 2004-10-28
To: Eating myself into a coma and Danny and Kay's
Miles today: 0.0

The morning was cold and bright. I headed out right after Happy Feet had left, before everyone else. The climb up from I40 to the top of Snowbird Mountain was pretty hard, and I got passed by Tennessee Jack while getting some water. Once I reached the Bald I found him at the top, so I took another break to talk with him. We ended up hiking together all day, eating lunch and hearing a bear down hill from us, and getting extremely lost, hiking down an old woods road for about 2 miles before doubling back. A little advice, profile views of trails are usually crap. The one we saw showed some stairstepping uphills before Max Patch and a big downhill before the long haul up Max. Before we knew though, we emerged on the climb up the biggest bald on the AT. At the top their wasn't a cloud in the sky. Johnny Flash, Sylvan Poet and Happy Feet caught up to us. (Not sure how he got behind especially since we got lost.) We all hiked the last few miles together, down to Roaring Fork Shelter, which was being torn down in a few days. This night was the only night I ever saw Johnny Flash eat real food, a pack of Easy Mac he had found at the shelter. Had a nice fire that night, but was tired out from the stairstepping hike, so we all went to bed early. Tomorrow, Hot Springs!!   We all got up early and got out, ready for some of the famed Hot Springs hospitality. Passed Biscuit and Slim at Lemon Gap Shelter and the next few miles are all a blur. I remember eating lunch at Deer Mountain Shelter and the Hike down Bluff Mountain, but until i saw Hot Springs I was flying. (It may be because the day was so hot, one of the firsts we had had.) Hot Springs is an AWESOME town. Everyone is so friendly, even the people who have the AT going through their back yard treat you like neighbors.   Seems that Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, a famous Victorian House from the 1700's converted to a hiker hostel was full, so we sat around for a little while deciding what to do. One hiker came out and said that there was space for one on a coach for half price. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth I snatched it up. One of the best parts of being a thru-hiker? Your endless appetite. Here is a breakdown of my food consumption that first night at Hot Springs.4:00- ate lunch at Deer Mountain Shelter.5:30 ate huge hiker burger (about 7 inched across) with everything at         Smokey Mountain Diner, also had plateful of chili cheese fries, and five Dr. Peppers6:15 Buy and eat 2 snickers and a Gatorade from gas Station7:00 Go back to Smokey Mountain Diner with Tennessee Jack and the gang. Ate a chicken salad, footlong hot dog, and part of Tennessee Jack's cheese fry plate.7:45 Ate huge vegetarian Supper at Elmer's. Vegetable Salad, Rice, potatoes, Soup, and some kind of pie for dessert.8:15 Go into food induced coma on coach.To save weight and add convenience I mailed my water filter home and bought some Polar Pure (Iodine Crystals that chemically treat water) and also bought a head lamp. Hiked out with Swiss Miss the Chocolate Bandito, and headed for Danny and Kay's The climb out of Hot Springs was hard but gorgeous because of the views of the French Broad (the river, not the woman)Another beautiful day awaited me. Lunch on a firetower, catching two ckicks making out, finding a cool little dam/ pond area, and walking through a forest fire was all great.   (Controlled forest fire burn) That night I had been invited to stay at Danny and Kay's house. (They are the one's who held the Sweat Lodge Ceremony for me.) I can't thank you two enough for your help and goodwill, it means so much to me, now more than ever. Another huge supper found me refreshed and ready to go in the morning. That though, is a story for the next installment. Check me out, same Fox Time, same Fox Channel.