In Hot Springs, NC — Finding A Path

We are 268.1 miles into our hike per AWOL’s guide. We have walked a few more miles than that, for sure, with side trips to lookouts, or even just around town to get food.

We planned a Zero for Hot Springs because I was feeling so beat up in the Smokies. The Smokies were very rugged, water was scarce so we often ended up carrying extra water weight, and camping was a challenge since you are only allowed to camp at certain places.

One night, we slept in the actual shelter which was not very restful. The other nights, we tented, but there were no good tent sites at any of the shelters. Since Covid, there IS the option to tent to social distance, and we are glad for that, but, seriously, there are no good tent sites.

Coming out of the Smokies the last day, I tweaked my right ankle. I am pretty sure it is tendon or muscle related. It also happens to be nearby the giant blister that will not heal these past few weeks.

Also coming out of the Smokies, we were greeted by lovely trail magic thanks to two REI employees from Knoxsville.

Next, we made our way to Standing Bear Hostel to retrieve a package. SB is an AT icon, and folks either love it or hate it. SB was gearing up for a pre-Earth Day celebration with a pot luck and music. We had made plans to have a shuttle driver pick us up instead, and we went to their home to camp on the lawn. Our stay included a hot outdoor shower and porto-potty, and a ride back to the trail. We heard later that the rumor was that SB was having a norovirus outbreak, and we were smugly patting ourselves on the back for not staying there.

Back on trail, with bad weather forecasted overnight, we pushed to get over Max Patch and on to a shelter beyond. Just as I was flagging, and really needed a break, we came upon trail magic hosted by a 2016 thru-hiker and his BIL. Perfect timing! We each had sodas and snacks and were revived to cover a few more miles

Max Patch was stunning with 360-degree views of mountains stacked upon mountains.

We pushed on to the shelter, found a small but proper tent pad, and set up camp. We took our suppers to the shelter table to be social, and caught up with our hiking friends, some of whom had stayed at SB, and had also partaken in trail magic just before Max Patch.

We woke to stormy cold weather.

We packed up, and took our breakfast to the shelter table again.

When we hiked, we were “warm” so long as we kept moving. We aimed to cover between 8.5 to 11 miles, knowing there were camp spots along our way toward Hot Springs. Water was plentiful, as we crossed many streams—such a change from the week in the Smokies.

We even stopped for a quick snack at a shelter, but I was so cold, I just wanted to keep moving after switching into a drier inside layer.

The hills we were climbing were smaller than previous days, but to me, they seemed to go on forever!

At the top of Bluff Mountain, I asked Charles to phone a hostel that could pick us up at Garenflo Gap because the promised sunshine was not seeming very promising. He got thru, they had a room, so we had a new plan to sleep indoors. It was almost enough to revive me.

Sunshine met us a few hours later and took us to the Happy Gnomad Hiker House. We got to have hot showers, loaner clothes, laundry, and food. Oddly, I felt so tired! I kept thinking how great it was going to be to get into Hot Springs the next day, and have a zero the day after that.

About midnight, I woke up and vomited.

Aha! An explanation for why I had been feeling so wrung out all day.

It’s probably norovirus.

Who knows where I picked it up? Either by eating from an open bag of chips (I even thought at the time bad idea) or at the shelter where many had spent the previous nght at SB from the table or from the privy. Gross, right?

I stayed in our room at the hiker house while the other hikers were there, and the bathroom closest to us was made available for my sole use. Charles wore his facemask any time he had to leave our room. We were able to stay late enough into the day that when we got our ride into Hot Springs, our accomodations there would be ready.

Jumanji took us to town; we were all of us masked up in his car. Happily, our room was ready even 30 minutes early; and I was able to extend our stay, so hoping plenty of time to recover, not just from tired and blisters,, but now also norovirus and a strained heel/ankle.

We are happy to be in a litttle apartment over a little bodega, next to the outfitter in town. Everything is within walking distance. We are masking when we go inside any place. We sure don’t want to spread whatever I am ailing from.

Yesterday, Charles ran into one of our hiking friends who told us he and 10 of the folks in his circle are sick, probably with norovirus. I am lucky that I only had the one huge vomiting episode and no diarrhea.

Today, I am feeling some better than yesterday, but the day has still heen punctuated by many naps, and my appetite is not up to snuff. Surely tomorrow will be even better than today.

In a few days, we hope to get back on trail in the form of a slackpack to try out my blister-healing and whatever is going on with my heel/ankle.

Charles is a good sport, running our errands while I nap or ice my foot.

We are anxious to continue our journey, and know that sometines the body insists on rest one way or another.