Date: 2015-03-25
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Started my day off by waking up at 8 instead of the usual 7. What a lie in! My bed was sublimely comfortable compared to my roll mat. I actually had real dreams for the first time in ages! I had breakfast with Elmer (the owner), Jeff (his staff), and Crane (another hiker). Elmer made the breakfast himself- waffles with strawberries and maple syrup, home made muesli. It was great to be able to chat with Elmer and Jeff. Both of them were thru hikers. It seems like half the population of Hot Springs hiked the AT and came back here to stay.It's not hard to see why. Everyone is so friendly, all the conveniences are very close, the town has a very relaxed and easy going feel. My entire time here, I have felt extremely comfortable just wandering around and exploring the little town. The two days I have spent here have felt just like a mini holiday. I suppose it is, if I consider my job to be hiking the AT (and sometimes, it does feel like a job). Today I sampled more of what the town has to offer. For lunch I had a large, 3 tiered club sandwich. It was from the convenience store nearby the cabins, which has a surprisingly excellent sandwich kitchen inside. I also spent a lot of time inside the Hiker ministry, which has an endless stream of hikers and freshly baked cookies. I'll be returning tomorrow before I leave for more cookies. The Hiker ministry is one of the coolest ideas I have seen yet. It is essentially a long trailer, with some sofas, a small kitchen, a small bathroom (with shower), and a room with 2 laptops for hiker use. At the front and back of the trailer are seats for hikers to enjoy the sun with. There is also a decent selection of games inside for poor weather days. It's exactly the kind of place that a bored, hurting, or hungry hiker would want to go to. Later, I tried the famous ice cream. I was able to sample 3 kinds - blue cheese and caramel, bacon with maple syrup and brown sugar, and salted caramel. All three were excellent, but I ended up with a cone of the blue cheese and caramel to try something a bit unusual. I also had a berry smoothie. For dinner I just had nachos at the riverside tavern, though I actually couldn't finish them. I had finally managed to reach my food limit. I'm sure my appetite will be back again tomorrow though. During my wandering about, I also bought some new socks and liners, since my Bridgedale ones are definitely quite worn from the repeated fireside heatings. The liners will hopefully also help reduce blisters. Today I was also able to speak to my family for the first time since coming to America more than 3 weeks ago. It was really wonderful to be able to speak to them again, and reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to hike the trail. It also showed me how much the trail has changed me already, like when I was saying how I never really cleaned my cooking pot out any more, or how not taking a shower for days didn't really bother me too much, or how the mice in the shelters didn't bother me too much. These are not things I would have ever said before coming on the trail. I wonder how much I will have changed by the end of this. Everyone says that the trail will change you. Just as my blisters are developing into calluses, my mentality is also changing to suit the trail. If you're hiking the AT, you have to adapt to it, because it won't adapt to you.