Day 33 – Zero Day 2 in Hot Springs, NC 

“Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun

I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come

Watching the ships roll in

And I watch ’em roll away again, yeah

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Ooh, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay

Wastin’ time” – Otis Redding

Up at 7:00. Overcast and drizzling. Stayed in bed tweaking blog posts till 8:30. I feel fine today. Still want to give my knee a day off, so I’ll take it easy. Very tempted to slackpack today, but will be good.

Walked into town for a nice breakfast at the diner. Picked up the few items I still need at the local Dollar General. Got back to hostel and moved back into my normal room about 10:00.

I blogged and got all the new blogs uploaded by 2:15. Phew!

Chilled and played some games until 5:30. Hung out on the deck and chatted with Sam. We have been hiking around each mother for 5 weeks. He was originally stopping in Fontana, but started doing tick-tock videos to fund his hike. He’s leaving today and hitching to Knoxville where he will get a job for a few months then get back on trail, he does tree work so this is s good time of year for employment.

Heard from Mike. He is about 6 days ahead of me. He left Erwin TN today. He also recommended Uncle Johnny’s hostel. I’ve had mixed reviews on that place, but Mike’s is most current so I’ll plan to stay there in 5 days. My resupply boxes are going there as well.

Walked into town at 6:00 and had a great burger and some ciders. Stopped at DG on way home for some snacks. Tried to enjoy the deck at the hostel but people were talking go politics so I went to my room. Chatted with Dana and went to bed about 11:00.

Laughing Heart is my favorite hostel so far. It’s large, great vibe, not a basement dungeon, lots of people, 50 feet from the trail, and easy walking distance to town. Plus I really like Hot Springs. Small but has everything a hiker needs and is full of hikers. Roughly the size of Poolesville in terms of businesses. 

Retrospective 

I’m not looking forward to the rain for the next 7 days, but I’m ready to move on up the trail. I will see Dana in 2 weeks in Damascus. Also just ready to be done with NC and TN. Looking forward to Virginia. Looking forward to getting to the Blacksburg area and seeing college friends then doing the walk home to Maryland over the month of June.

I’ll be even more alone on this next part of the trek. Eric, Mike, Lolly, Sam are all ahead of me or off trail. But at least the mountains are not as bad and the weather is warm. 

My body is doing good. I’m making bigger and bigger miles and not hurting as much from those miles. I’m carrying 17 less pounds of me and I’ve lightened by pack a few pounds. I’m much more comfortable with the solitude on trail and my overall abilities.

Overall I’m much more comfortable with life on trail and all that entails. It’s not just weather and trail and camp and water and food and privies. It’s also the towns and people and the iconic places that I have read about and seen in hundreds of hiking videos. 

I would not mind running into some more trail magic. I have barely had any and hopeful for more as I get into summer in Virginia soon.

Technical Notes:

• Three eggs 0
• Pork chops0
• Coffee0
• Pop tarts0
• Huge hamburger0