April 12, 2024 4 min to read

AT Blog: 20 and 21

Almost to a Zero Day!

Day 20:

I’m outta camp by 8:30 AM. Today is the day I finally catch up with Taxi. He and I have been separated since the NOC where he kept going, while I took a short day in and a short day out.

I hike all of half a mile to the interstate crossing and…

Trail magic! Gadget and Grateful (with their dog Franklin) have all sorts of goodies including fresh hot coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches. I chat with them about my reason for hiking, where I’m from and some stuff down the trail. I grab some final goodies from them (2 tangerines, a honey bun and a coke) and head out.

As much as I loved the trail magic, I kinda panic when I realize it’s now 9:30 AM. I’m not worried about being able to do the distance today. I’m more worried about the forecast. It’s expected to rain all night and I need to hike 17 more miles today.

I keep moving, passing by the nearby hostel and seeing hikers on the way out. There’s a decent hill (climbing over 3000 feet) till my next break at Groundhog Creek Shelter. I need to use the restroom and there is a privy according to my notes, they do say it’s tiny though?

When I get there, I realize that was a lie. It actually must be the world’s smallest privy. The “space” was so small I had to keep the door open just to take my pants off.

Beyond that I meet a couple of section hikers (Patrick and Day Packer) and we have a good lunch chat.

Eventually I head out, huffing it to the next shelter. My next big sight is the Maxwell Patch. A man maintained field of grass on top of the mountain. I can see for miles from it. But the wind is intense up there, worse than Clingmans Dome. I head off soon enough, fearful of the storm clouds.

After another hour or so I make it to Roaring Fork. I did 17 miles today and it felt good. Lobster and Taxi are there and I’m glad to see them again! I also meet Red, who I’ve seen but not really met yet. There is also MacGyver and his wife who we have a great talk about electricity.

Shortly after I arrived the rain starts. But I have a shelter space and some warm food, so I settle in for the night. Taxi, Red, Lobster and I discuss plans for Hot Springs in a few miles, and we figure we will zero in town.

Day 21:

Another rainy day. Lobster, Taxi, Red and I want to be in Hot Springs tonight, so we can fully zero tomorrow. So that means doing 17.9 miles today.

I chat some at the shelter and head out by 8. The early hike is fairly easy besides the rain and 45 degree weather. Nice gentle downhill where Taxi and I had the same pace.

Eventually we climb up Walnut Mountain with another field on top. I take a short break at its shelter for breakfast, as it’s the last dry spot for 10 miles.

The rest of the day goes by slowly, the uphill with light rain was not fun. But once on top of Bluff Mountain the rain had mostly stopped at the top.

The rest of the day is just hiking in cool weather while stuff was wet. Eventually I make it to hot springs.

Taxi had saved us bunks at Laughing Heart Hostel, the only vacant place in town. I great him there and get the tour, but opt to set my stuff down and get food.

Auggie had hyped up a place called the Smokys Diner, but unfortunately they shut down early for a function and are closed on Sundays so I went to Spring Creek Tavern and got a full meal. I got the Kicken Chicken Sandwich and it was delicious. I was talking to Joey who I met a few days ago, before I ran back to the hostel.

At the hostel Lobster had arrived and I met up with Color and Red again, and we all headed right back to eat. Even after the full meal I could eat and grabbed dessert while they ate dinner. There was a delicious cinnamon toast crunch cheesecake that was calling my name.

We were joined by 2 other hikers bringing our total to 7 people crowded around this small table eating tons of food. By the time we finished I was stuffed and opted to head back to Laughing Heart, sign up for breakfast and turn in for the night.

The beds were fine, for 35 bucks the accommodations were not bad, the next night though my parents are going to drive up one last time and stay the night, so I’ll be with them.