Date: 2017-03-31
From: Bluff Mountain summit

To: Campsite a few miles beyond Hot Springs
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

Day 20Another pleasant night, this time atop Bluff Mountain. Sometime during the night it started to rain and conveniently it eased off by 7. I had some muesli for breakfast, packed up my wet tent and headed out. 8:32. I immediately met Noah and two other hikers coming up from Walnut shelter. It started to rain again and I deployed my poncho. I tried to keep up with Noah - big mistake. I have yet to learn that a 58-year old may not always be able to do the things a 22-year old can. I eventually stopped trying to keep up with him, but not soon enough - shortly afterwards my left Achilles started to bother me, followed swiftly by pain from some muscle or ligament on my left knee. I limped into Hot Springs soon after midday and stopped at the first place I came to, Hillbilly Market, where I bought probably way too much food. It was turning noticeably colder when I emerged. I went around the corner to the Smoky Mountain Diner which supplied me with a giant burger, fries and onion rings, and two vats of lemonade. None of the food went back to the kitchen when I was done. I struck up a conversation with a lady near me who it turned out had been to Bermuda and loved it. She's also been to every continent including Antarctica. I limped on down to the library to join all the other hikers in the warmth there using the free wifi and charging our phones in the comfort of nice armchairs. Noah came to join me for a chat. He's very happy with the hostel room he has, which he's sharing with another guy. I spent about two hours in the library. During that time, two hikers I'd met three or four times on the trail, Murphman and True Grit (who are using two cars to shuttle themselves along the AT) came in and we chatted about our recent experiences. Murphman suggested I switch the knee brace on my right knee to my left. I did so, and it seems to have helped. I finally dragged myself out to my backpack and stowed away my electronic gear and started hiking again. My goal was to find a spot to camp a mile or two up the mountain outside Hot Springs. I finally stopped after about 3.5 miles in a charred clearing just off the trail, but before pitching my tent I used my newly-charged phone (at precisely midnight Irish time) to call my now 87-year old mother and sing Happy Birthday to her. She thinks I'm mental, of course, for doing this crazy hiking stuff, but she loves me anyway. To those of you imagining my poor little mother being woken up from her sleep at midnight by her feckless eldest son, all I say is: you have no idea of the hours we Gormans keep. Back on the mountain: a major achievement - I got my bear bag cord over a high branch on my first throw! Why were there no spectators present to see this?! It usually takes me ten minutes of throwing and swearing. And I'll leave you with this last image: there I am, curled up in my sleeping bag, all cute and winsome, but instead of a teddy bear in the bag with me, I have my .... propane gas canister. Of course I have. To keep it warm, so that it will light up in the morning. I mean, isn't that what you do?Tipperary