Date: 2019-04-13
From: Hot Springs

To: Little Laurel shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: clear sky

It's a cloudy morning so I sleep in until 7:22 (!) in Elmer's Sunnybank Inn. He's cooking up an amazing breakfast and we have a big crowd. Eggs, granola and fruit, grits, biscuits and veggie brown gravy, canteloupe and grapefruit. Question of the meal is what has surprised you most about the AT? For me, it's been how the AT is about more than hiking for so many people, and how many folks want to stay part of the community once they finish hiking, working in hostels or outfitters or being trail angels.Time to start hiking. Only a chance of showers today. I run into some new arrivals I know while walking out: Marvel, the girl from Montreal, and P-nut, who remembers that I'm close to finishing and is excited for me. I say goodbye to Tin Can who is taking another day to meet his parents. He just heard he was accepted into the Peace Corps and will be going to Guinea in West Africa in November. I'm very happy for him. He's a talented and genuinely nice guy and will do us proud there.I grab a postcard on the way out and run over to the post office to send it home. But they close at 10:30 on Saturday, so I'll hold on to it until Erwin.I walk past the Hot Springs resort and cross the French Broad River, then amble along the river bank before climbing. A series of steep and rocky switchbacks pass Lover's Leap and several other outcroppings with views to town and the river. Lover's Leap goes back to legends of a Cherokee princess who supposedly met her end there. There are many such stories circulating in this region. Two women, Marshmallow and Tulip, are resting during the arduous climb out. I pass numerous dayhikers enjoying the AT and the many side trails around Hot Springs. It's Saturday and good weather so normal people are out.One of the dayhikers looks really familiar. It's Fuego, who I met at Laughing Heart hostel. He's going the wrong direction and has nothing in his pack. He's excited because he bought new shoes, Keens, at the outfitter and they dropped him off to slackpack back to town to make sure the shoes worked for him. Wow, great service!Tiny and Kiwi are on a break at a stagnant dammed pond. A firetower is coming up and Kiwi wants to spend the night in it. Sounds like a fun idea, but not in my plan today since it's only nine miles from town. Pocket Pussy passes by with his cat tucked into his jacket. The cat was feeling sick and he got off trail, but it's feeling better now.Somewhere around here I pass 2000 miles on my AT hike. That seems like a long way, but I have so many good memories it takes some effort to remember all the hard work that went into actually covering those miles. I would make my own personal stick number 2000, but I'm in a bit of a hurry at the moment.So my goal today is simple: to run down and catch up to my friends who skipped town yesterday. I am prepared to hike to the third shelter, 27 miles from town, if necessary. It would take til dark, but honestly I'm looking forward to it a bit to test the legs. They haven't had to do that much work since last summer.Not far from the road crossing at Tanyard Gap I see a sinewy woman with silver braided pigtails walking her dog down the hill and talking on the phone. She hangs up and asks if I have any Advil. She says she fell, but landed on her dog, breaking her fall. She's concerned about her neck, but I'm more concerned about her disoriented behavior. I get her to sit down and drink water while I fish out ibuprofen from my pack. She's still talking a mile a minute, showing me scrapes on her arms, which are all superficial, and complaining about past neck injuries. We're close to the parking lot and there are many other hikers down there so I don't see a reason to keep her. She's just shook up and a little bit in shock. I catch up to Energizer Turtle in a couple minutes and ask about the lady. He saw her talking on the phone before she fell. A hiker coming down from the firetower is impressed that I still use a paper trail guide. He's Proteus, AT '05. I guess he hasn't seen thruhikers lately because he checks out my registration tag too. At the firetower I can still see the Smokies in the distance. I saw goodbye to Pukey and Bash here, who won't be going far today.I pass Nobody (as in "Nobody's tired!"). He's not sure he'll make it to Maine. Concerned he's too heavy. I tell him to take his time, it'll change slowly. He'll take it slow to Erwin, where his wife is meeting him in a week.At the first shelter I check the log book but there's no comment from UNICEF, et al indicating their plans. Now I'm wondering if they're trying to shake me. Undeterred, I figure this merely calls for extra ribbing when I do catch them. Even if it takes until tomorrow.Well, long story short (too late!), I finally get service at a summit and numerous texts pour in, including one from Clammy that they've stopped at the second shelter. Other texts are from our town stay when I had no service. It's an AT&T dead zone.That means they're only twenty miles from town, and I'm an hour or so away. I had hoped they had hiked farther, but my body is tired from all the climbing, and I've been sweating and feeling the humidity below about 3000 feet. I also, like an idiot, have not been drinking nearly enough, getting by on about a half liter for twenty miles in my single-minded mission to catch them.Aside from the climbing, the trail has been well-maintained and easy walking. I spy several new wildflowers, including what I believe is created dwarf Iris. Before 6pm I roll into Little Laurel shelter and find the guys occupying the shelter, strategically saving me a spot. This isn't good hiker etiquette, but my body isn't in a mood to refuse an easy place to crash. They've been here since 11 this morning. Two others are in the shelter and around ten others are tenting nearby. They had trail magic earlier, with people packing hot dogs, beer, and chocolate milk up in cooler backpacks. We enjoy some catch-up and joking around while I refuel my body and refill my water tanks.Tomorrow looks like strong winds and rain and possibly freezing temperatures, so we're planning to hike early and avoid the worst of it.