Date: 2007-04-28
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

April 28, I've Escaped!The morning was a lazy one, I woke up at 9 a.m. It was bittersweet. I was so glad to be moving on but it meant I had to have my "usual" at the diner for the last time (I mean get out of town already). I know I said you should try the pancakes there but the tomato biscuit is to die for. Umm..I'm supposed to write about hiking, not food, right? But, at the diner, we ran into Earthquake and Hungus and TDS - nice to see them all again. They had come back to town for the Trail Fest that was going on. We hit the trail at the crack of noon and I had my fingers crossed that it would go better than my last town exit. It was raining but my pack actually felt lighter than it did the other day so at least I had that going for me. I think my pack weight directly corresponds with the dread I have about leaving towns. The heavier my pack, the deeper the dread. I usually have a hard time each time we leave a town - and I don't know why. I just always dread it. Perhaps I get comfortable again, perhaps I fear the weather, perhaps I'm homesick and going back into the woods doesn't help, perhaps I'm just lazy. I don't know but that's how it works. And I always hurt most on the first day back out.So...we got on the trail at noon. It was raining but not too hard. The mountain coming out of Hot Springs does not rank on my Friendliest Mountain List. It's steep and it already got the best of me once. I was much more swift this time around though. I felt about a million times better too. We put in about five miles before the skies cleared up and the sun came out again. I was very appreciative of that - helped with my mood. At one point, we hiked up a hill and at the top was a huge pond. It was exceptional - our first pond! I love when water is so calm that it is an exact mirror of the trees around it - that's how this pond was. Peaceful and serene. We also enjoyed the dog, Matsu, that came along with some fellow hikers and ran right in. She was having a grand time!The bulk of the hike today was not too bad. Very pretty sights and even some new ones to liven things up. I saw two new kinds of flowers - one purple and one pinkish. We even walked through a field of the pinkish ones. I saw a dragonfly (Mom, I thought of you) and a chipmunk and got some close-up photos of everything. I love the zoom on my camera!After Rich Mountain, about nine miles in, I started hurting. We had to go downhill and that's usually what does it to me. From that point on, my knees and feet were not interested in hiking. Not to mention we had only 1.7 miles to the shelter but we had to climb about four large hills before that. It was a really long 1.7 miles. I was hiking with my new insoles until I realized how bad my feet were hurting so I put my Superfeet back in for the rest of the day. I have a sneaking suspicion that the arches of my feet are dropping and my feet might be getting too wide for my shoes. I'm no foot doctor though - I'll have to watch it.All in all today was a good day. I'm glad to be back in my tent tonight and I'm glad we made it here. There are lots of people here - the most we've ever camped with. I am glad to not be spending any more money in Hot Springs and I am excited to be on my way to Erwin - another mental milestone for me. I look forward to using my legs better now that I am feeling more healthy. It's frustrating not being able to hike to full capacity. I am glad to be back.- Sound of something creeping around outside of my tent.Post Trail Thoughts:This would be the first night we spent with Pyro and Ducksoup - but we didn't know them yet and wouldn't meet them until the morning. We were also there with August, Fire Hazard and I want to say Robo. I was camped in a precarious little place that was the least level spot around but it worked for me. Just glad to be back out there.