Date: 2019-04-28
From: Hot Springs (For Real)

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Time to leave Hot Springs! Finally! Except chores. Ugh. I needed to do laundry. My clothes smelled like a combo of vomit and sweat. Really pleasant, I know. I got up around 8, so I was behind some others in line for the machine, but eventually put a load in and waited for it. I cleaned my stove, my utensils, my water bottles and my hydration tube. I packed my bag, but needed to unpack it again because I realized I had a package to go pick up from the Inn I stayed at with my parents. I had left some of the food they brought me since I knew I¢d pass through the town again. I walked all the way across town, but left my pack at the hostel. The Inn was closed all weekend for a wedding, but it was Sunday, so I was thinking the wedding had already happened. I walked up the driveway cautiously, thinking I¢d photobomb these poor people trying to have a romantic wedding, standing there in my grody camp slippers and stinky clothes. Luckily there was no one there. The wedding was definitely over. I walked to the side of the Inn and knocked, and saw the wonderful Innkeeper from last weekend. I came in and told her what happened to me and grabbed the box. She was very sweet and if I had to come back to Hot Springs, I¢d definitely stay here again. I walked all the way back to my hostel and put the food in my food bag, and then repacked everything. It looked like it was going to rain and I talked with Chuck a bit, but it ended up staying sunny. I said goodbye to Chuck and Tigger and left! I walked through town with a skip in my step, so happy to be moving on. Now with towns, the fun part is that you descend forever and ever down into the town, and then you climb forever and ever back up. So today was a climbing day. Joy joy! Love having a pack full of food and climbing out of town! Ugh. It was very nice right by the water though. The trail goes down into this beach area with sand and dirt, along the water. There were tent sites and people sitting there as I walked by. That would¢ve been a great place to stay! Then I climbed up Lover¢s Leap, looking down at the water as I went. The climb hurt. I felt bleh. I got through a lot of it and just sat on a log, feeling poopy.I saw a salamander, which made me excited. I¢ve seen so many on trail! I had never seen one before, but I remember this children¢s book about a boy finding them in the woods. They¢re cool little guys. I was texting Prometheus about plans. He had purchased a new pack in Hot Springs because his was heavy, just like mine. His new pack is around 2 pounds without weight, so it¢s 2 pounds lighter. He said he didn¢t have a chance to adjust to the pack and get situated, so he and Hot Sauce did a short mileage day. It would allow me to catch up and he was encouraging me all day to make it to them. I had gotten a late start, but was looking forward to pushing on to the shelter they were at.I got up and kept going. I passed a man who said there was a little pond up ahead. I felt tired by the time I got there, but it was very beautiful. It was a little pond that flowed into a waterfall, with woods all around and a bench to sit. It was peaceful and serene and I sat down. I texted Prometheus and was feeling a little slow and tired. He said I had 6 miles left to the shelter, so I pushed on. I came to a dirt road. I was very confused for a second because there was a white blaze on a tree, but no trail. It was completely overgrown. So I followed my instinct and went up the road. Thankfully I was right. It connected back to a path and then down to a Gap. There was a bridge that crossed a highway and then a parking lot. And then more climbing because Gap. I climbed for a while. I knew there was a firetower at the end of the climb, and I had seen it from the Gap. I wanted to get to it. I passed one guy who had left Hot Springs at the same time and was also feeling wiped. I had seen him before but forgot his name. The trail split with another trail at one point and the white blazes were faded, and I remembered AWOL saying something about an ¢old AT¢, so I was worried and stopped on a rock to check. I asked Prometheus if I had gone the right way and I passed some folks who told me the firetower was .4 away. I made it up and dropped my pack. The tower was off trail, but those views! I was even considering sleeping up there because Hot Sauce and Prometheus had done that! I walked up and found Unicorn and NAB. I haven¢t seen them in a while. Unicorn was surprised to see me because I was ahead of them before, but I explained what happened and we chatted about noro; she got it too. NAB did not, but he was feeling queasy. That was kind of enough for me to know I didn¢t want to stay up there. It was getting late though. Prometheus said I could stay in his spacey two-person tent so I wouldn¢t have to bother with a tent setup so late. I wanted to see them, so I passed on the firetower stay and walked down. There will be more opportunities I¢m sure. On the way down, I ran into a girl who had had a very rough experience. For her sake, I¢m going to name her X when I talk about her story. She came up to me and asked if I was staying here. I said that I was moving on to the shelter, but that she was welcome to walk with me the couple of miles or so. She said she couldn¢t keep going and that today was the worst day on trail for her. She was sexually harassed last night and I was disgusted by the behavior she described. She burst out sobbing to me and I rubbed her back while she talked. These boys got super drunk and high and sat outside her tent, saying nasty things to her and grabbing her from the outside of her tent. They were so aggressive her ear was bleeding from an earring that fell out, which is technically abuse. One of the guys said ¢I wanna fuck you. But you have to shave first. I¢ll buy you all the stuff to shave and then I¢ll fuck you¢. It literally makes me sick to my stomach just writing this. No one should ever have to go through that, but especially not on trail. We experience so much shit out here and we do not need to be harassed in addition. As a single girl out here, I felt horrified. We hugged and I held her and knew that we needed to hold each other and have this moment. We needed to be there for each other and all single girls out on the trail. She was blaming herself and saying she was too friendly. We¢re all ¢too friendly¢ out here. We become best friends in a day and we form connections super fast. It doesn¢t mean you deserve to be harassed and grabbed all night. She looked like she had experienced hell. She didn¢t want to tell her parents because she was afraid they¢d take her off trail. I was so angry for her and wanted to take my hiking poles and shove them where the sun don¢t shine on those asshole men. We said we need to stick together as women, I told her I was here if she needed anything, I directed her to Unicorn, who I knew would comfort her too, and I carried on. I felt so unsafe the whole walk. It was getting dark and I was scared and angry. I was ready to charge like a bull. What I just heard about was not okay. For her privacy though, I ask that this remains here in my blog. She is doing okay now and the assholes are still assholes (I saw them and will update). I simply want to tell this story because it deeply affected my night and my feelings of safety on the trail. Part of the last few miles was downhill, but most of it was up. I was anxious. I got most of the way there and checked my phone. It said I had a half mile left. I powered through and arrived at the shelter. I was so happy to see Prometheus¢ tent. I said hello and he and Hot Sauce came out. They came and sat with me as I ate dinner. Prometheus had water ready for me because he¢s awesome. It was dark by the time I hung my food and changed and did all that, but I was so happy to be with friends. I was a bit overheated in the tent and didn¢t sleep well, but it is a nice tent and I was thankful I didn¢t have to set mine up at that hour. Happy to be out of Hot Springs and moving on, but disturbed by today too and processing it all. Little Debbie