Date: 2017-03-30
From: Laughing Heart Hostel (Hot Springs, NC)

To: Hemlock Hollow Inn & Paint Creek Cafe, TN
Miles today: 16.3

Day 23: Hot Springs, NC to Hemlock Hollow Inn & Paint Creek Cafe, TN - 16.3 miles:The day began at 7am after waking from a fitful sleep with my stomach hurting. My initial thought was I was sick, and staying in hiker-filled hostels had caught up with me. I exited my bunk only to find all three bathrooms were occupied with showering hikers. With nothing to do to take my mind off the roaring and tumbling happening deep in my stomach, I had myself a coffee. Not the smartest move, I know, but I figured I'd go big since it was inevitable. Finally a door opened, a hiker exited, and in one move I was in, door closed, and sitting on a toilet freshly warmed by the steam of the hiker's shower. The next few moments were pure bliss as I filled the volume of the toilet to the point I began looking for something to switch over to and finish. Ok, not really, but one can dream. It would happen once more within the next hour, but on a much less grander scale. A big crisis was averted and, fortunately, I was not sick and instead simply cleaned out from the fried catfish and frog legs last night. Phew.A couple hours later Toepick, Odin, and me finally motivated ourselves enough to slowly get moving across the still sleepy town of Hot Springs, and back into the mountains on the far side. The trail crossed the French Broad River before cutting into the woods and running within feet of the rushing water for half a mile or so. It then began cutting up and, through a series of switchbacks, had us back on a ridge overlooking the town. With it taking us an hour to cover the distance to this point, I decided I wouldn't be able to reach my goal of ~20 miles without taking until 7pm to do so. Toepick and I looked at the guide and came to a compromise. With a nine-mile gap between shelters, at 11 and 20 miles in, she wanted to do the first while I wanted the second. With rain/storms in the forecast, we decided to shoot for a hostel located ~16 miles in, thus Cambo's 2017 Hostel Tour continues. At 11am I would break off from the two of them and hike at my own pace for the day.Forty-five minutes later I caught up with Tank who had passed us as Toepick and I were discussing the day's plan, excessively sweating or "detoxing" as he'd later tell me. I would use Tank as my pace car all day, staying within 20-30 yards behind him, but holding pace. The terrain would lead us mainly up, up onto the tops of mountains and ridges shrouded in fog, a steady wind blowing through the trees all day, occasionally pushing my pack and making me walk at an angle. Tank and I cruised until reaching Spring Mountain Shelter around 2pm. We briefly shut it down to grab a quick lunch - two fruity pebbles breakfast bars for me. Another hiker arrived, a strange character, who seemed to enjoy bragging about his large calves and hiking speed. To each his own, but as he headed off I couldn't help but think he needs to watch that cockiness. If the AT hears him, she just might have something to say about it.A few miles later Tank and I reached Allen Gap, a small highway running east-west between Tennessee and North Carolina. A few handmade signs advertised Mom's Store about a hundred yards off the trail. I remembered peering through the dirty glass of the run-down looking building two years ago, brokenhearted that it was then closed, knowing chilled Coke's waited just inside. Today, however, it was open and Tank and I spent 45 minutes sitting in two old, dusty chairs, chatting with the owner, and commenting on some of the old advertising - Marlboro signs and the like from the 80's or 90's - that may be worth a little something today. "What the fuuuuuuuuuu........ck" I quietly thought inside when I read a small paper advertising a can of Coke would cost me $1.25. I did as any smart person might and purchased two.Back on the trail Tank and I crested a ridge just above Allen Gap, and I noticed a small campsite tucked beneath some rhododendron that I remembered fondly. Two years ago, several of us cowboy camped in a pile together in the spot while Tick Tock read to us from a book a friend of hers had written after completing the PCT, Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart, by Carrot Quinn. All I remember about the book was that I had enjoyed it, the combination of the authors words and Tick Rocks voice softly lulled me to sleep. My mom would give me this same book as a Christmas gift this past year - small world. No more than a mile and a half later, Tank and I reached Log Cabin Rd, my ending point for the day. He would continue another three miles to the shelter while I would trek .7 down a road, through some farmland with grazing cows, and a house with a dozen or so barking dogs nestled up against the road.I reached Hemlock Hollow Inn and Paint Creek Cafe just before 5pm with a small group of other hikers I'd stayed with at the Laughing Heart Hostel, all with the same plan to hopefully miss out on a night of rain and storms. A small office/common area is stocked with basic resupply options, junk food mainly, coffee, drinks, and a freezer stuffed with pizza, burgers and the like. I was taken to a small cabin by the kind hostel caretaker - a simple bed, wooden table and chairs, a mini fridge, and a microwave. A small bathroom/shower-house stood nearby. Within minutes I was taking a shower, quickly scrubbing myself so I'd stay under five minutes. A sign next to he shower said anything over five minutes would cause the next person to have to wait for 20 minutes for hot water to return. No one wants or should be that guy.I've been in the common area since around 6pm, using WiFi in order to journal and catch up on stuff. Just before 7pm Toepick and Odin arrive. Toepick, almost instantly, dived into a warm pizza. Odin went to begging from others, but with no luck. It's now just after 7:30pm, but it's time for me to head back to my cabin, where no signal exists. Perfect. Tomorrow, rain or shine, it's back into the mountains.