Some kind of creature, I’m thinking it was an owl, was making noise all night long. Literally from sun down to sun up. It was a bit annoying, although I still slept pretty well.
We’re going to get to Hot Springs by Thursday afternoon. I had service at the campsite this morning, so I booked a room above a tavern for Thursday night. In order for us to get there on time, we put in 13.1 miles today.
We’re spending the night in our tent just outside the Walnut Mountain shelter. It’s supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow… and in fact it rained twice today. Once just before we reached the shelter, and then we had a pretty intense downpour and thunderstorm as we were cooking dinner. Luckily we already had the tent and tarp up, and it all seemed to hold up pretty well with no water pouring into the tent, so we should be ready for any rain tonight. As I said in yesterday’s post, while it is no fun to pack up wet gear, this rain is necessary to try and put out the nearby wild fires.
The highlight of today’s hike was Max Patch… a 4629 foot grassy bald which afforded us 360° views. We could even see the some from the fires north of Hot Springs. We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch up there with some other thru-hikers. There was also a bit of trail magic… apples and cliff bars. The people who left the trail magic even offered to take whatever trash we had. I’m still in awe of the kindness that most people have shown thru-hikers. These kinds of gestures give me faith in humanity, that most people still care about one another. Casey and I have already talked about preforming trail magic to sort of pay back all the generosity that we’ve experienced.
The section of trail today was very nice, and the flowers are really going crazy. We walked through tons of trillium, and lots of other flowers that I don’t know the names of. It’s nice to have all the flowers to look at when we’re walking through the woods with no views.
We’ve got another 13.1 miles to Hot Springs tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t be too wet of a hike, but if so, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got a room all booked, so we’ll get dry eventually. Tomorrow is our last day of actual hiking for about a week, so posts may slow down a bit. Though while Casey flies back for an appointment, I’ll be hanging out in Asheville, NC, so I’ll continue to post pictures and reviews of all the breweries that I visit during the week.
Thanks for sticking with us!
Love reading about this journey. Love the trail magic, trail names and the details of your adventures!!!
Stay calm and keep on the trail????
Hi! Beautiful pictures. I think the light pick flower is a lady slipper. I work with Casey’s mom in the NICU and have been following you guys. Would love someday to hike this with my husband. You are smart to do it while you are young! Stay safe. Michele
Did I miss it? Does Casey have a trail name yet ?
Wow a week off the trail! Not bad for a mini-vacation and in Asheville of all places! Keep us updated on the amazing craft beers in Asheville!