Mar 31

DAY #28
START LOCATION: Walnut Mountain Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Hot Springs, NC
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 13.1
TRIP MILEAGE: 271.8
MILES TO GO: 1,907.3

The moon had my tent illuminated all night. I went outside around 2AM
for the wee-pee and it was brilliant out there. No headlamp required.
Rolled out of the sleeping bag around 7:45AM and Upgrade was getting
himself ready. Cornpatch slept in.

Beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky and hallelujah, my socks and
boots were dry! ...First time since Gatlinburg that has been the case.
Broke camp around 9:30AM and had a decent climb up to Bluff Mountain.
I took a break at the summit to get the blog post out, and awful
service only allowed just that. Cornpatch rolled up and we cruised our
way down to Deer Park Mountain Shelter.

We ran into a bunch of trail maintainers along the way around
lunchtime. They were all really nice guys, they're volunteers after
all. We thanked them for their efforts as we passed. The Appalachian
Trail is a federally protected institution under the National Trails
Act, but almost no taxpayer money is spent on upkeep. All of the
shelter maintenance, privy cleaning, trail upkeep and blowdown removal
is handled by volunteers from the local Appalachian Trail Conference's
local hiking chapters. Those entities raise the funds and supply the
manpower. Thank god they're out there. The trails are nasty after the
epic winter the south has endured.

Rolled into Deer Mtn Shelter for a quick break and decide if it was
worth staying at. It was a dump. Cornpatch and I decided that we'd
push the extra 3.2 miles into Hot Springs and tent there. The trail
down to Hot Springs was an easy stroll. Nice tree-filtered views of
the town that is considered by many hikers and guidebooks as the
perfect trail town. It has an outfitter, a post office, a laundromat,
a store, a library and eateries all within a quarter mile walk...
Plus, this is the first town where the AT goes straight it. I'm loving
that. The only thing this town is lacking is AT&T cell service. I'll
call it almost perfect. Cornpatch did laundry and resupplied while I
caught up on email. Nice to get off my feet and relax in some AC. It
was easily in the 70s today... Foreign temps to us over the last month.

Got Cornpatch and I a tentsite at the Hot Springs Campground... $5 and
we have water, toilets, wifi, shower and electricity. Happy campers.
That train I heard in the far off distance last night... We are camped
right next to the tracks tonight. Got a photo of the big hauler as she
rolled through around 10pm. The horn was more ear piercing than
soothing like it was 24 hours ago when it was 13 miles away.

Photos uploaded tomorrow at the library and off a few days with the
fam. Looking forward to it.

-Natedog