We are back on the trail!! It's actually been too long! Almost 11 months since we were last here. We are thrilled and excited with getting back on the AT. Since we last left the trail, I have been working non-stop. I am a nurse and do travel contracts so I can spend more time with my husband, who works away from home. I try to keep in shape, but the best way to train for the trail is just to get on the trail and take it easy.
We decided to go to Trail Days in Damascus, VA and then head down here. We arrived at Trail Days on Friday afternoon. Trail Days is always so much fun. We camped next to a really fun group of people who brought drums and bongos and a big horn that I tried to blow. It was too funny! We danced barefoot in the mud around the bonfire after Miss Janet opened the festivities, and we browsed the vendor and food area. The crowds were lighter than years past, but there was still thousands of people present. After a weekend of revelry, we were ready to head into some quiet wilderness, where the only wild things are those on four legs.
I started calling around for parking last month, but I was struggling to find parking for the three weeks we will be gone for this section. I called several hostels, but even though I offered to pay, they didn't want to commit parking spaces for someone who wasn't staying with them, since parking is hard to come by during Trail Days. Leaving my vehicle in a public spot isn't an option for me, since I've witnessed too many vehicle break-ins at trail heads. Thankfully, in a moment of serendipity two weeks ago, GG was in Damascus for a trail race (she runs ultra-marathons) and was inquiring in a store about suggestions for parking, when a shopper offered for us to park at her house right in town!! The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me.
We drove to the woman's house, only a couple blocks from the vendor area, and parked in front of her house. My truck is only a couple weeks old, so I'm hoping it will be in the same shape when we return. There was a wicked storm with some tornado activity last week, and downed trees and branches are evident all around the town. The house next to hers had a huge sycamore fall onto the deck. Hopefully all the branches have fallen...
I originally arranged a shuttle three weeks ago with a shuttle driver out of Hot Springs. We agreed on the terms ($200 to be paid on pick-up) and the time. I tried to follow up with him several times last week and he ghosted me. I finally received a text YESTERDAY that he couldn't drive us. AYFKM?! Thanks for waiting until the last minuted and then leave me hanging! Where the hell am I going to find a shuttle to take us over one hundred miles in the next few hours. Freaking out, I called around and was able to arrange a shuttle with Steve of Unicoi Shuttles. This is no small feat on any weekend, but especially the weekend of Trail Days. The majority of people on the trail try to get there for the party and then get transported back.
Thankfully, Steve was much more dependable than the other guy, that I won't name because I'm feeling magnanimous. Steve was very prompt, arriving just as we were finishing putting things away in the truck. I changed into my hiking shoes and we loaded into his Subaru for the two hour drive to Hot Springs. The ride passed quickly. Steve was very knowledgable about the area and reassured us that he could pick us up along the trail if we had any difficulty. He dropped us off and we checked into the hostel yesterday afternoon. We spent a few hours outside watching younger hikers play frisbee and cooking dinner on the hostel-provided grill while we enjoyed a little cocktail in a coffee mug.
We choose Plan B, which is to slack pack 15 miles to Allen Gap, then get picked up by a shuttle in the evening and come back here. This means we only have to carry minimal supplies for a day hike, leaving our sleeping gear and shelters here. I absolutely know I am not in shape for a 15 mile hike with over FOUR THOUSAND FEET of elevation gain. Remember, I live at 7 feet above mean tide. I am a flatlander who can't get any flatter. I am going to suffer for sure. GG has 15 years on me, but she has been marathon training.
I call Kate, the shuttle driver that originally drove us from Hot Springs to Dick Creek's Gap last year. She is booked and unable to drive us back to town at the end of our hike but gives me another number. I call and line up a shuttle to pick us up at Allen Gap at 5 p.m.
We went to bed early so we could be refreshed for our big day tomorrow. GG slept on the futon in our room while I take the bed. I can't sleep in a bed smaller than a king with anyone else. Weird, I know, but I won't sleep if anything touches me.
We get up early and pull on our hiking gear. It's chilly outside and we have on our down coats over our hiking clothes, but it's supposed to be in the 60's today with some clouds later today. We are only carrying some water and snacks and rain gear. I decide to leave my heavier layers at the room to shed pack weight, since the weather outlook is decent.
We take a quick picture and head down the hill from the hostel, into the town of Hot Springs. The sun is just starting to peek over the ridge in front of us, which we will be climbing shortly. The day is cool but not uncomfortable. We walk through town and then start the climb up the ridge, shedding layers frequently. We know today is going to be a rough reintroduction to the trail, and I am ready!
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| Walking into Hot Springs from Laughing Heart |
While hiking up the ridge on the other side of Hot Springs, we stop frequently to take in the pretty view of the river below and the town beyond. We hike by a gentleman who is packing up his tent. He has an adorable brown Aussie Shepard named Jasper. We exchange pleasantries and keep trucking upward.
The enthusiasm for being back on the trail carried me for the first five or six miles, but as we hiked to the top of the ridge, the sun went behind the clouds, the wind really picked up and the temps plummeted. I went from feeling elated to feeling absolutely beat.
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| The climb never seems to stop from Hot Springs to Allen Gap |
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| An idyllic spring forest |
After 11 miles, we stop for a break from the wind inside the Spring Mountain Shelter. We collected water from the spring down the hill from the shelter, leaving our packs inside as usual. I was laying inside on the dirty floor with my legs elevated on the side of the shelter wall in order to get some of the swelling out of my lower legs, and my skirt hiked up to my butt, when a through hiking couple showed up. Thankfully I wear men's wool boxers underneath for modesty. I didn't have the energy to get up, but eventually I did just to jump around and get some warmth to my bare legs. I am really regretting not bringing some extra layers right now!
The couple introduces themselves as Ragnar and Mochila. They tell us that word on the trail was that a hiker recently dropped his backpack at the shelter while he went to filter water (just like we did), and when he came back up the hill from the spring, he witnessed a bear making off with his entire backpack! Thus, the bear closure. This information prompts us to hurriedly continue on the trail. We have done most of the elevation gain for the day, so the next four miles is thankfully downhill.
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| A really cool slime fungus |
We arrive at Allen Gap 15 minutes after we were supposed to meet the shuttle. Another hiker is heading back to town with us. Within an hour I am in a hot shower and popping 800mg of ibuprofen. We are so tired we decide to eat one of our trail dinners instead of going into town.
I sit down at the picnic table across from a woman who is going through her food bag. She obviously just resupplied in town, as she has a lot of food spread on the picnic table between us. We make simple conversation, and I discover she is a through hiker named Kodiak. Her name the result of the cute little stuffed bear she carries, which was a gift from her niece. She takes pictures with it and sends the pics to her family.
GG joins us and Kodiak tells us a harrowing story of the night before, when she was camped in a clearing next to the road with two other people at Allen Gap. A vehicle drove up and at least two people got out and flashed their lights into and around the three tents, at one point even scratched on her tent!! EEK!! She tried sending an SOS via her Spot device but was unsuccessful. She said it went on for almost five hours! Thankfully, the jerks ended up leaving without incident, but she was very terrified, nonetheless. THIS is why we never camp anywhere near a road. Too easy for bad apples to spoil the hike for decent people.
Kodiak is also getting a ride to Allen Gap tomorrow, so we decide to try to ride together to split the cost.
The day was grueling! But we made it! And tomorrow will be easier. I know each day will get better, but it stinks to need to build up my trail legs every time we come back to the trail. We head to bed early.
Today's stats: 15 miles, 4400' of some crazy climbing my legs aren't in shape for!!
Trail Stats: 290 miles, 70k feet total gain
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