Day 31 – Roaring Fork shelter  to Hot Springs, NC

“When you’re alone, and life is making you lonely, You can always go …Downtown” – Petula Clark

Showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Up at 7:00. No rain!!! Shocked we got no rain last night, but pleased. It is overcast and the Garmin weather forecast looks good until 5:00. But that forecast is not the most accurate. I’ll still wear my normal hiking shirt even though it’s damp. Want to save my spare long sleeve in case I don’t make it to town today. Almost 18 miles is a long day on top of the past two days. Got a fallback planned for tonight if I can’t physically make it to Hot Springs.

Slept very well and feel decent. Need to stretch Achilles a lot before starting. All my hiking clothes are damp and not much chance of drying today. 

I’ll check weather and see about a room for tonight when I get cell service in a couple of hours. At least I’m not packing up a soaking wet tent like I had expected to do. Yea!

Ate, brushed teeth, packed, topped off water and headed out at 8:45. Trying a  new arrangement inside my pack to try to stop upper back pain I get later in the day.

Made Lemon Gap at 10:10. Rearranged pack a bit. Cloudy and misty with very limited visibility. Nothing really photo worthy.

Made Walnut Mountain Shelter at 11:10. Partial water refill. Very cold and windy up here! Got out of here fast as I’m very wet from humidity.

Summited Bluff Mountain at 4680 feet at 12:49. Last big climb today. Now it’s 10.3 miles down to Hot Springs.

Took a bad fall around 1:00 in the rain. Damn tree roots. Tweaked my bad knee again and pulled something behind my knee. 

Stopped for water at 2:00. It’s very humid and I’m going through a lot of water.

Got cell service at 2:45 at Garenflo Gap. Texted with Dana and reached out to Laughing Heart Hostel and booked a bunk for tonight! YEA! Back on the trail…6.2 miles to go in the ongoing drizzle.

Made it to the hostel right on 6:00, exactly as I predicted. Getting good at judging miles. Showered and unpacked just enough for the bunk room tonight. Picked out some loaner clothes and walked into town at 7:00.

All I could find in the Laughing Heart Hostel’s loaner clothes for pants was a pair of size 32 skinny leg pants. Nothing else was even close to my size. OMG they fit! First time I’ve fit that size in about 15 years at least. Found a scale at the hostel and I’m down 17 lbs in 4.5 weeks. 

Got dinner and drinks at Spring Creek Tavern. Great vibe, nice staff, good food, huge portions. I think I can afford the calories!

Back to the hostel at 9:00. Drank a few ciders and swapped stories with the older crowd sitting on the back porch. In bed at 10:00.

Technical Notes:

• Stinger waffle 150
• Justin nut butter 210
• Trail Mix 270
• Trail mix 270
• Trail mix 270
• Snickers 250
• Seltzer 150 x 6 = 900
• Beer batteries mushrooms 640
• 6’’ Philly cheese steak 600
• Tots 500
• Water liters 6
• Miles 17.6
• Time 9:15
• Elevation gain 3029
• Elevation descent 5600
• Calories consumed 4200
• Calories burned 6500