Date: 2014-04-06
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hostel of the Laughing Heart
Miles today: 18.0

Another early start to the trail to knock out an 18 miler to Hot Springs, NC! We had a quick start to the day, reaching 3.45 miles in a little over an hour! Big Dawg was ready to get to town and clean up!The day was (mostly) downhill but we still had some big ups near the middle of the day. The weather was a bit cold and windy in the morning, but it cleared up around noon and turned out to be a great day.Throughout most of the morning, we hiked around Thomas, Silvia, Gandalf, Kamikaze, and Gandalf's friends. Sole Power passed us on the way up, and we did not see him until we arrived in town later. The last big climb of the day was up to Bluff Mountain - we sheltered behind some rocks to eat lunch and enjoy the views from up high. We tried calling Elmer's Sunnybank Inn in Hot Springs, but we did not have good enough service - darn AT&T! Blitz passed us as we were leaving, and we did not see her the rest of the day.We kept hiking down to Hot Springs and looking for cell signal - we briefly got it and left a message at Elmer's, but we did not know what the hostel situation was until we arrived in town. It was a mostly uneventful downhill climb until one of my bags fell off my pack and rolled down a steep hill! Luckily it got caught on some limbs on the ground - it was an adventure getting to it, but I was able to safely recover my hammock quilt!We arrived in Hot Springs and accidentally hiked past Elmer's while we were looking around town - they do not have a sign advertising the Inn, so you have to keep a sharp eye out for it if you want to stay there! If you turn right onto Walnut Street, look for the first white house on the right-hand side of the road. Unfortunately it was full when we got there, so we backtracked to the Hostel of the Laughing Heart and got a room there. The hostel is run by thru-hikers Chuck Norris and his wife Tigger, and it is a nice little hostel with good rooms and a separate area for cooking, movies, and internet. We stayed in a private room (The Priest, $20 per bed) and cleaned up.As a side note, both hostels will take reservations, so you can set that up from Max Patch or wherever you have signal! Also, AT&T service on the trail is horrible, so we did not have any service on the trail or in town the past two days.We ate dinner at Clear Creek Tavern and had some delicious pizza with a couple of appetizers beforehand - well worth it if you stop in Hot Springs! Peppa, Gandalf, Marshmellow, Kamikaze, and Sole Power were also at the tavern and preparing for a zero day tomorrow. We may zero as well - supposed to get two inches of rain, will be some tough hiking.We picked up our food resupply from Elmer's and went back to the hostel to Skype my mom and sister. It was great talking with them visually since it had been a while since we last talked - I also had to wish my sister a happy belated birthday! After Skyping, we went back to Elmer's and at the little UPS box cake that my mom sent me. We shared the cake with Peppa, Marshmellow, Sole Power, Styx (works at Elmers), and Elmer himself. The cake was pretty good for a cake that you can mail! We met some new thru-hikers at Elmers as well - Reroute and the G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time). I played some more Euchre and still remain winless on the trail - gotta change my luck if I can! It was a great day of hiking at Hot Springs is a great little town. If you can stay at either hostel, do it - the staff is great at both and they are both well-priced for thru-hikers!