Hot springs to Damascus

The continuing story of a cat who's gone to the woods....

Hot Springs NC is an awesome little town. Situated between beautiful mountains with rivers flowing right through town. It reminded me of Silver Creek NY where I spent some of the best years of my life.

It was difficult to leave Hot Springs. The locals were really nice and a lot of our hiking friends were there. I had a really good time just relaxing by the river and reading a book, or sitting in the riverside bar and sipping beer with my friends.

G-man decided to leave the trail in Hot springs. He is missed by all who know him

We camped by the river for 3 days but finally decided to leave late on the fourth to night hike to the next shelter along the trail. After 5 miles we had enough though and set up camp in a spot that overlooked the lights from the town in the valley below.

Towns are a major obstacle on the trail. On one hand, we need to resupply. On the other hand, they suck us in. Going to town saps momentum. It is so hard to get back into the routine of hiking and camping after a day or two (or 3 or 6) in town. I feel lazy after a while, choosing to read a whole book rather than marching miles through the muck and mud. When I finally work up the motivation to move on, my body feels lethargic, my pack feels heavy, the hills seem steeper.

It's easy to get into the habit of looking forward to the next town rather than appreciating the journey. Since being out here the beauty if the wilderness has become commonplace to me. Now things like doors, roofs, hot showers and flush toilets are things of wonder. Beautiful vistas are an every day (every hour) occurrence.

Most of the time my eyes are on the trail directly before me. The times when I have twisted my ankle or fallen and injured myself, have all been while looking at and appreciating my surroundings. For example: the trail leading toward standing bear hostile  was absolutely gorgeous. There was a creek and waterfalls, a great variety of fragrant  flowers grew along the trail as it wound back and fourth across the creek. I was hiking along and looked up to admire some butterflies fluttering about, when I stepped wrong, twisted my ankle and tumbled off the trail and 20 feet down a steep incline. The momentum of my heavy pack slammed me into the ground as I rolled and I struck my head causing me to see stars. I was fortunate to hit a tree trunk that stopped me from rolling another 20 feet into the frigid water and sharp rocks of the creek.

I took a moment to assess my condition. My ankle was sore and stiff, my ears rang and I had an abrasion and a lump on my forehead.

"Sonofabitch!" I exclaimed to the trail. "You almost got me you old bastard!"

I limped up the embankment fetching my trekking poles along the way. When I climbed back in the trail I dusted myself off and continued on, reminding myself the the beauty is a trap and to be more careful.

From Hot Springs Morris and I hiked north toward Erwin TN.  We had been carrying a surplus of food since Franklin so we didn't need resupply. Unfortunately Morris contracted the norovirus so we stopped in Erwin so he could be sick in the comfort of a motel room.

We stayed at the " Best Southern motel " a crappy overpriced place with no amenities and a nonexistant staff. After 3 days Morris was feeling better and we were eager to get on with our hike. 

Within hours I began to feel dizzy and fatigued.  The nausea that followed convinced me that I had gotten sick as well so we stopped at the greasy Creek friendly where I camped in the back of the property to avoid spreading the virus to the other hikers who were staying there. I spent most of my 2 days there laying in my tent and feeling like death warmed over. The hostel only had one bathroom so I chose to relieve myself in the woods adjoining the property,  otherwise I'd have monopolized the toilet the whole time.

Morris spent a day helping out the hostel owner as she ran errands in town. He brought me back a chocolate milkshake that was the best I'd ever had.

The following day I was feeling much better so we left Greasy Creek and headed back to the trail. We had discussed going off of the A.T. to strike our own path through the woods for a while.The thought of going forth without white blazes to follow or a guidebook to advise us of terrain and watersources, was very exciting to me. With my navigation experience I felt sure that we wouldn't get lost.

We hiked through the woods for a couple hours before finding a forest road which we followed to a state road. I remarked to Morris about how great the scenery was and what a change it was to be able to walk along without constantly scanning the ground for hazards. There were plenty of farms and ranches that we passed as we continued north.After a couple hours of "yellow blazing" (following the yellow lines on the road)  I stopped to say good day to a man who was mowing his lawn.

Mr. Hooper, a retired natural gas worker, was kind enough to offer is a ride to Hampton TN and we were happy to accept. So we piled into his van and enjoyed his company as he drove down a winding mountain road to the valley below. In half an hour he was dropping us off at the trail head in Hampton.

"We're way ahead of schedule." I said to Morris. "I could go for a burger and a beer. Lets backtrack to that saloon we passed in town."
Morris agreed so we walked a half mile back to get a drink and some food. We intended on getting right back on the trail but ended up staying 4 days at the hiker haven hostel. I was getting restless from so much time in town and told Morris that we needed to move on. I was bored and cranky. Furthermore,  Pam was coming to see me in Damascus for trail days and I wanted to be there before she got there.

Our last night at Hiker haven we were joined by Nomad and Mountain man who told is they were getting a ride to Damascus in Rock Oceans VW van.

Morris and I looked at each other before asking Nomad if she thought he had room for us too. That's how we managed to arrive in Damascus on the Sunday prior to Trail days with Piper, Strider, Nomad and Mt. Man.

Rock Ocean dropped us off at "The Place", a hostel being run by a local church with an aspiring dictator as the caretaker. I didn't like it there so we headed out the next day to camp in the woods 3 miles out of town. Fortunately for the hikers who stayed at the place, the caretaker was removed from the property a couple days later when he was accused of peeping on females in the shower. Police showed up and escorted him off the property.

Pam and Krystal came out to see us on Wednesday and camped in the woods with us. Piper, mountain man, Nomad, Indy, thistle, and Knutt were there too.

On a sombre note, Biscuit set up to camp with us the first night but he ended up staying at a house in town where he passed away during the night. The following day we were all concerned that he had not returned until a couple police and a detective walked into camp to retrieve his gear. I felt sad for his daughter because Biscuit had said that she was coming to trail days to see him. Days later I saw her walking down the sidewalk with a sign that read "In memory of Biscuit, 2013 A.T. " some people had signed it but I didn't stop her because I had only just met him hours before he died. Besides, my philosophy of death is seldom comforting to a grieving family. We all die, it's just part of being. I think death is just another part of a greater journey. I do know that when my time comes, I couldn't think of a better last day than spending time with friends out in the wilderness.  The last time I saw Biscuit he was hanging out by the river as Nomad fished for trout which she later cooked up for the camp.

Our camp was really great. Especially after Pam and Krystal arrived and even more so when Keven came out to visit a few days later. We kept the fire going rain or shine but as the week progressed there was more rain than shine.

The trail days festivities were lackluster at best and I preferred  our camp to the crowd in town, although we did go in every day to take advantage of free food and showers. There was free laundry at tent city too.

Mostly I just enjoyed Pams company, carved a little, played Pipers guitar a little, and just chilled by the fire.

There was an accident during the trail days parade in which an elderly driver plowed into the back of the line of hikers and injured about 60 of them. I was miles away at the time but heard the radio call from a nearby police car. There were no deaths but 6 hikers were taken to the hospital in helicopters. The elderly driver had suffered a stroke or heart attack as he drove behind the parade.

The rain was relentless our last couple days at camp so we spent the last couple nights in a motel in Morrisville Va. It was cheap, clean, and the owner was really nice.

Our last day with Pam and Krystal had finally arrived. Morris and I were delaying their departure as best we could but they needed to get back home to pack up so they can move this week. I suggested that we could help them move and that would speed up their return to hike with us.

That's how I ended up in Williamston NC. We're returning back to the trail on Monday. In the mean time I'm picking up my dog and getting some things from storage to sell to finance my hike.

Life is good. If yours isn't, you should change it. Change it now before it's too late.