Date: 2018-09-29
From: Hemlock Hollow Hostel

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 16.3

Pretty late start this morning. Disco and I didn¢t hit the trail until 10am. He seemed really worried about the late start, considering him and Buddy were always hiking by 7am and sometimes earlier. I think switching hiking partners is gonna be a bit of an adjustment for him. Lol And since we hike at very different paces, we¢re more like camping buddies than hiking buddies. Up until today, Disco has been quite the purist with his thruhike. He¢s passed every white blaze, taking no shortcuts, blue-blazes, or ¢bad weather bypasses¢. I may have become a bad influence on him though. While eating lunch at a shelter, he asked me how many miles we had left until we reached town. I told him that he had 11 miles, but I only had 6 because I was taking a different route. He seemed annoyed, but also slightly jealous of my different hiking approach. Lol I decided I was gonna take a side trail that was previously ¢the old AT path to Hot Springs¢ as the guidebook describes it. By studying the book, I noticed that it took an 8 mile section of trail and reduced it to only 3 miles. Knowledge is power! Lol I told Disco what my plans were, but told him he should hike his own hike and that we¢d meet up later in town no matter what route we took there. As brilliant as I am sometimes, this shortcut was not a bad idea, but an absolutely terrible idea. Not only was it the first and only time Disco had ever blue-blazed on the trail, but it was a terrible, terrible trail that left the both of up covered in bloody cuts. Lol This trail was 3 straight miles of thorny, spikey overgrowth up to your shoulders that you literally had to swim through. It was obvious that no part of this trail had been maintained in YEARS. There were huge bushy trees laying across the trail that you had to weave in and out of. My hair got caught in every thorn bush. My forearms are now covered in bloody scratches from using them as shields to cover my face. This literally now sits at the top of ¢the worst decisions Amanda has made on trail¢ list. Lol The funny part though is that Disco followed me into this and was right behind me the entire time, and I never noticed him until we were about halfway through it. I got way ahead of him after lunch and wasn¢t entirely sure if he was gonna take the shortcut. When I veered off the AT and started to go down the brambley side trail, the terrain began to change pretty drastically and I was 100% convinced that Disco would probably turn back if he saw this. No way in hell did I think he¢d push through 3 miles of bushwhacking. But then here I am tearing through walls of thorns with my headphones turned up full blast and all of sudden feel someone tapping me on the shoulder. He scared the shit out of me! Lol I had no idea he was behind me. I was shocked and instantly apologetic for leading him into impending doom. He was way calmer and in much higher spirits than I expected him to be. I thought surely I¢d get chastised for my ¢genius idea¢. He kept saying ¢Because of you, I¢ll have some crazy stories to tell now!¢ Haha!Along with the dozens of flesh wounds we acquired, we still managed to save a whole 2 hrs of time by taking the side trail and Disco seemed to be very happy with that. By 3:00, we were sitting in Hot Springs at the Iron Horse Station restaurant drinking soda and eating good food. I even bought Disco a beer for surviving the day and still having faith in me. LolWe¢re staying in town at Elmer¢s Sunny Inn, which is an old Victorian house owned and maintained by this older guy who runs a B&B/hostel out of it. I was gonna stay at this different/cheaper hostel, but apparently Buddy is staying at that one and neither of us really wanna see him. Lol Elmer¢s place is like something out of a movie though. It¢s chalk-full of antiques and old furnishings. There¢s tons of rooms with weird connecting hallways, closets, and half-baths. All the rooms have 2-3 beds. And not bunks, but like real beds with mattresses and stuff which is nice. Lol Our room has a plaque on the outside of the door stating that Earl Shaffer stayed in this very room nearly a hundred years ago! Earl Shaffer was the first person to ever hike the entire AT in one continuous season - real trail legend. The room has pictures of him and some of his poetry framed up on the walls. It¢s pretty cool and Disco seems to be in awe of it all. We plan to zero in Hot Springs for two days, so I¢m really looking forward to being lazy for awhile. These might actually be my last zeros for the rest of my trip!