Date: 2009-05-05
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Sunny Bank Inn - Hot Springs
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: light rain

Ahh, Hot Springs. I made it, 270 miles in 21 days. What a great placethis hostel is, a beautiful old Victorian with loads of history, more onthat later. I woke up this morning with Bon Bon and RLB, we made itthrough the bear scare and our food bags are still in one piece. Themiles were fairly easy today, but there were plenty of them to be had.I got started at 8:00, and it was a fairly easy 5 miles to the firstshelter, and I arrived around 10. There were tons of beautiful streamsalong the way, more in those 5 miles than the past week combined. Aftera quick break it was off to Bluff Mtn, and my legs and lungs pulledthrough. I climbed the 2 mile, 1000' stint with barely a breather. Then it started to rain again. I stopped to put my pack cover on, andskipped the rain gear. With only 10 miles left until town, I figuredwhat the hell, everything I have is wet already anyways. I hiked for 4hours today in the sometimes pouring rain in just a t-shirt and shorts.A few times I stopped and taunted the man upstairs, staring at the skywith my arms out like that scene from Shawshank Redemption, yelling "isthat all you got?". He showed me how much he's got. I made it to thenext shelter soaked through and through, with a big smile on my face.That's life on the trail, you can't let anything get you down.I made it 15 miles in 6 hours today. Not bad, eh? I showed up at thelast shelter, 3.2 miles from town, at about 1:45. And then I rememberedthe cookies. You see, I am hiking the AT without any planned mail dropsor a bounce box, tools often used by hikers to help make resupplyeasier. But that doesn't mean I can't ask for things from folks at homeif I need something. Well, I asked for a Timex-type watch from my Momand the Sis to be sent to Hot Springs, something I couldn't easily findon the trail. What else did they send? A box of Mom's homemadechocolate chip cookies. Mmmm, motivation. I hopped back on my feet andall but ran into town, making the 3 miles in an hour, trying to beat thesoon to be closed post office. Well, I made it and the cookies areawesome, and the watch is perfect, many thanks to the fam.I am hear at the wonderful Sunnybank Inn, which has actually been placedin the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S Department of theInterior. It has been here since 1840 and has been in its current formsince 1875. It has been used as a wealthy family's summer home, aboarding house for teachers and travelers, and as a place to housecaptured German soldiers' wives during World War I. Since 1912 thehouse belonged to the Gentry family, famed musicians and folklorists whohosted with great food and hospitality. Now Elmer Hall continues thattradition here as a friend to hikers and travelers passing through thisisolated mountain town. The food is legendary, the hospitality has beenwonderful, and the house is beautiful. There is a very sociallyprogressive, liberal vibe, as they are all vegetarians and are the typeto wear their political views on their sleeve. A very retro classicdecor rounds it out.I ate tonight at the Smoky Mountain Diner, a real down home diner withthe best service I've had on the trail yet. Wonderful people, greatfood, and good prices. When I sat down, after the waitress brought me aPepsi that must have been 32oz and weighed 3 pounds, she said "here,have a free veggie wrap." Sweet, I ate it, mushrooms, tomato, peppers,onions and all. That'll be a shocker to folks at home, but you see, youget me on the trail long enough and I'll eat anything. Then I ate anUltimate Club sandwhich and a huge pile of fries, and a house salad. And2 more giant Pepsi's.So now, with a zero day ahead of me, I am sipping on a beer and eatingcookies. Oh, and guess who I ran into today? Bill Breed is here! Icaught up with him, he double zero'd here and is leaving tomorrow, so Iwill be a day behind again but will catch up soon I hope. It was reallynice to talk with him and share our experiences, and he reminded me of home.Happy Trails,Transition