Date: 2012-05-05
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Log Cabin Road
Miles today: 16.7

People who know me, know that I'm a planner -- I always have a plan in mind for whatever it is at hand that I'm about to tackle. So, it should come as no surprise that I have a plan for each day I'm out hiking, because I do indeed. But one of the many lessons I've learned over the years of Section Hiking the AT is that some days just aren't going to turn out the way you plan them.Today (my daughter, Kim's, birthday) was one such day on the AT. My plan was to hike 11miles to the top of Spring Mountain and stay in the shelter there. My assumption was that the day was going to just like the past few... Cool in the morning with maybe a few sprinkles after which the sun would come out and it would turn first warm and then hot.Instead, I ended up hiking 16.7 miles (Yess! Bumpo is baaack!!) and staying in a cabin, not a shelter or my tent, by a steam at a place called Hemlock Hollow. (If you add in my walk to and from the Smokey Mountain Diner in Hot Springs for a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon then the mid-morning detour I took to check out the view from the Fire Tower atop Rich Mountain and the walk from the AT to Hemlock Hollow, I actually hiked 18.5 miles today in total which I feel really good about.) My assumption about the weather couldn't have been any further off also -- one mile out of town the heavens opened up and it poured for the first two and a half hours I was on the Trail, after which the sun came out intermittently but the temperature remained very pleasant for hiking (were I not sopped to the bone!)In spite of the heavy rain, I felt good on my feet today and aggressively climbed out of town (in case you haven't already realized it, towns are NEVER built on the tops of mountains -- they're always situated down in the valleys, usually alongside rivers or streams. This means that every time a hiker cruises into a Trail Town anywhere on the AT, they've got to face the climb back out when it's time to leave.) Anyway, I felt good about my climb and I kept pushing myself to keep moving, other than to take a sightseeing break at the top of Rich Mountain which gave me a chance to try out "Whiffle Chicken's" bat and ball (which he has tethered to a lanyard to keep from losing it) and to meet two through hikers, Reaper (a former Army E5 who was wounded in Iraq) and Kleenex (who works at a Christian Camp in South Dakota). They had spent the night in the Fire Tower thinking it would be a great location except for (A.) the Hot Springs freight trains could be heard all the way up there and they came through four times during the night and (B.) when it started to rain they discovered the roof leaked and, on top of that, the wind blew the rain in on them through the glass-less windows of the abandoned tower. (Not a good plan after all.)I arrived at the Spring Mountain Shelter around 1:30 and had lunch with a few other hikers including Oliver and Ginger Snaps, Lionel (an early-60s remodeler from Rockland County NY) Caveman and Whiffle Chicken. They had all resumed their hiking and I was getting water from the spring across the Trail when Reaper and Kleenex arrived and I head Reaper exclaim, "Wow! Look at the size of that snake!" The whole time the rest of us had been eating our lunch and sitting in the shelter checking out the Shelter Log, nobody had noticed the 5' long black snake that was lying in a crack between the logs of the shelter wall, presumably looking to make his own lunch out of one of those pesky shelter mice that can be found in every shelter on the Trail. If my mind hadn't already been made up to press on further (it was just too early to call it quits for the day and I was feeling too good) the idea of sharing the shelter with that snake was enough to prompt me to go to "Plan B."Consequently, I continued on and caught up with Lionel who is just beginning a five week section hike in this neck of the woods. He said he had read about Hemlock Hollow in his Trail Guide and it sounded good to me, so here we are. Lionel is in the bunkhouse with two women hikers, 'Bama and Winkle who have both already completed the Trail and are out here together to enjoy the AT experience while heading for Trail Days and the chance to see old friends. I opted for a private cabin where I could spread out my stuff in the hopes it'll dry out overnight.Lionel and I met for dinner which we enjoyed with the two owners, Fred and Hattie, a couple of real characters. Dinner was pulled pork, homemade potato salad, baked beans and pecan-strawberry cake (also made by Hattie) with vanilla ice cream. Needless to say, this fare was a lot better than whatever dehydrated meal I had planned originally.Which brings me back to my original point: having a plan for hiking is a good idea on the AT, but diverting from the plan is often appropriate and sometimes, essential. Today, it was just the right thing to do and it turned out to be another great day of hiking on the Appalachian Trail.