Date: 2017-09-28
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Laughing Heart Hostel
Miles today: 20.1

At the shelter last night:Ewok and Mabel (dog)Preacher - Atlanta Presbyterian ministerGadget - from TennesseeSplash - James. Cousin's husband is Scott G. (signal officer)Pippen - hammock(Group of friends from Atlanta on their annual long weekend hike. Apparently they do this every fall or have been for several years.)I started getting up around 5 o'clock this morning, being as quiet as possible so as not to disturb others. I packed up, retrieved my food bag from the bear cable system, made coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. I went back to the water source just off the trail near the shelter, and filled and treated two more liters of water. According to my guide book, the only water sources south of here for the next ten miles were off the trail and unreliable. Although this sun wasn't fully up yet, I started hiking about 6:45 a.m.I arrived at the Spring Mountain shelter just after 10 a.m., had a snack and some and signed the log book. The trail sign near the shelter indicated that this location was 282.8 miles north of Springer Mountain. My guthook app indicated it was southbound mile 1905.4. Clearly, the math doesn't add up to this year's official length of the trail, but I was thrilled to see that not only had I reached less than 300 miles to go yesterday, I had also just passed the 1900 AT mile mark!I did some work on my phone to coordinate activities in Hot Springs. Then, I got back on the trail just before 11 a.m. Reaching the Rich Mountain campsite at about noon, I learned from a day hiker that there was a fire tower nearby. I hiked 0.1 miles to reach it and realizing the first step was about 15 feet off the ground, I would have to climb the iron beams of the legs of the tower itself in order to ascend it. I gave this a shot, got past the first level, maybe 10 feet off the ground, but when I had no foot holds with which to climb to the next level, I found my hands and arms were too sweaty to feel comfortable continuing the climb up, so I came back down. Then I continued southbound.About one p.m. I arrived at Tanyard Gap, and shortly after that I reached a road that passed through some fields that had been converted to a bird sanctuary and nature preserve. This was along Mill Ridge Road. I stopped and sat in the field and ate my lunch before continuing on with hiking after 1:30 p.m.Starting somewhere between 2:30 and 2:45, I reached the trail that enters Hot Springs from the south.  It was a long narrow ridgeline that fell off deeply on both sides. (Picture) To the left I could see and hear the town of Hot Springs below and the river running north into the same valley between the mountains in which the town was nestled. As the trail started to descend, there were a number of spots from which there were clear views through the trees of the city and the river. (Picture) Where the trail circled from the right side around the northern end and onto the left side of a steep ridgeline heading back southward was a view points called Lovers Leap Rock. (Picture) As the trail continued to descend, there were more stunning viewpoints, some literally breathtaking. (Pictures) Eventually as it neared the level of the water in the river, the trail switched back to the north again and continued into town.Around 3:15 p.m. I reached the outskirts of town, & I saw a couple of signs referring to a presumably defunct silver mine. I continued walking and crossed a large bridge from east to west into downtown Hot Springs. After crossing the bridge, the Hot Springs Resort and Spa was directly on the right. The resort also included a campground, open all year said the sign.I walked through town, stopping briefly at the Welcome Center, and arrived at the Laughing Heart Hostel about 3:45. Showered, did laundry, dinner with Rock Spider, whom I met in Erwin (he's from Israel, and is taking Yom Kippur off).