Date: 2016-04-16
From: Hot Springs 

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0

Apr 16, 2016 - Paul and Catherine continued pampering me with an omelette made with fresh eggs from the farm down the street, veggies and the remaining leftover hamburger from last night. Next up was a quick hike to walk the dogs that was surprising beautiful and pleasant since I didn't have a 30 pound pack on my shoulders. We returned to Hot Springs around midday and immediately began exploring Trailfest. The actual festival was not as large as I expected, but it had a unique small town feel to it. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) was handing out thru hiker goody bags with homemade baked goods, Nutella packets, crackers and hand sanitizer. The event had all of the stands you'd normally have at a town festival just subtly or not so subtly geared toward hikers. There was a stand on foraging, which I found interesting, an outfitter stand, an organic energy bar stand, and live music and speakers. I set up my tent in the local campground - Miss Janet had already purchased a few lots for us the set up shop in. Miss Janet, by the way, is like an archangel when it comes to Trail Angels. She used to own a hiker hostel, but since selling it last year, she's basically a vagabond that drives her massive thru hiker van from trail town to trail town helping hikers however she can. Lodging was $5 for two days thanks to her. The Spring Creek Tavern ended up being our spot for most of our time in Hot Springs. Our waitress, Sheena, immediately took a liking to our group (the killer quad plus Hot Toddie and some of the Warrior Hikers: Bad Apple, Buffalo Soldier, and Daniel) and served us beers for two straight days. Other hikers there included One Extra, Training Wheels ( she fell like ten times her first day), Wheebles, Faceplant (a very large guy that face planted earlier in the trip), Crispy, Skittles (his name should be Seth Rogen since he looks so similar - we really are lucky to have both Seth Rogen and Zach Galifanakis share this experience with us), Verge, and legs. There must have been 50 plus thru hikers there for the festival. The tavern offered an AT Hiker Burger that was not on the menu (see picture). It consisted of three beef patties, bacon, cheese, onion rings, lettuce and tomato and it was freakin delicious. We actually ate it while sitting on the banks of Spring Creek since the bar was so crowded. Shenanigans began early in the afternoon when I sat on my plate filled with a puddle ketchup and grease. I took my shoes off and lowered myself into the creek where I unconsciously used a humping motion against a rock to try to clean my pants. Then, I turned around and Peach tackled me bodily into the stream. Normally, I'd have no problem with this - hell, on today's game warm and beautiful day, I would've welcomed it - but my glasses fell off in the water. Next thing you know, we are combing the river looking for them. Of course, I'm useless since I need my glasses to see, but u still tried. Peach ended up finding them and everyone was able to breath a sigh of relief. That first tackle instigated many other tackles into the stream culminating in Faceplant knocking no less than 5 of us into the stream at the same time. Tackling wasn't a great idea with all of the rocks on the bottom, but beer, a beautiful day and a festival will do that to you. We took a break from the tavern to visit a free hiker feed on the other side of the town: hot dogs, sauerkraut, chips and cookies. Then, the hikers created teams that competed in a homemade, life size board game about the Appalachian Trail. The rest of the night was spent in the tavern and, eventually, the campfire where Weebles supplied marshmallows for roasting. It was an insanely long and crazy day, but our second zero was just as fun, if not more so, than our first in Fontana. The group of hikers we're with simply make it impossible not to have a great time.