Day 30: Hot Springs to Rich Mountain Lookout Tower
Hot Springs was an amazing trail town, but it was time to get back to the trail. We stealth camped next to the Broad River just outside of town to save money. We didn't end up leaving Hot Springs until after lunch. Of course, we had to go back into town to the Smoky Mountain Diner to load up on some delicious food. It certainly didn't help with the huge climb that we had coming out of town though, I felt like I was waddling up the mountain side. The forecast was calling for scattered thunderstorms so we had a rather large hiker train going to keep moral up. The train included Hobo, Cyclopse, Trail Mom, Dabs, Horse, Chesepeake, and myself. We roll deep. The hike gave us some great views back down into Hot Springs, and the rain held off for most of the day. We ended up setting up camp 8 miles out of town at Rich Mountain Firetower. We had originally planned on staying in the firetower but the fog rolled in and we had to set up our tents. Frosty rolled into camp and slept up in the tower by himself.
Day 31: Rich Mountain Firetower to Hemlock Hollow Inn
I woke up to what felt like someone spitting on my face. Rain. The condensation on my single walled tent had built up so much that it was literally raining inside my tent. My sleeping bag was starting to become saturated as the condensation sprayed down on me as the rain pounded the exterior of my tent. Time to pack up before things got even more wet. My pack felt like it weighed twice as much with the extra water weight. We assembled the hiker train again to keep the spirits up but we got split up after our first break at the shelter. The rain just kept coming down. 7 miles in I stopped at Allen Gap to wait on the others to catch up. You get to a point of being wet where waiting in the rain just doesn't phase you. The rest of the group caught up in about 30 minutes and informed us that they were going to head to the hostel a mile away to get a hot meal and warm bed. I was all in. When we got to the hostel they didn't have enough room for all of us. I ended up sleeping out on the porch floor and having the best nights sleep on the trail. I was just greatful to not be out in the rain in wet tent. After a delicious double bacon cheeseburger everything was right in the world.
Hot Springs was an amazing trail town, but it was time to get back to the trail. We stealth camped next to the Broad River just outside of town to save money. We didn't end up leaving Hot Springs until after lunch. Of course, we had to go back into town to the Smoky Mountain Diner to load up on some delicious food. It certainly didn't help with the huge climb that we had coming out of town though, I felt like I was waddling up the mountain side. The forecast was calling for scattered thunderstorms so we had a rather large hiker train going to keep moral up. The train included Hobo, Cyclopse, Trail Mom, Dabs, Horse, Chesepeake, and myself. We roll deep. The hike gave us some great views back down into Hot Springs, and the rain held off for most of the day. We ended up setting up camp 8 miles out of town at Rich Mountain Firetower. We had originally planned on staying in the firetower but the fog rolled in and we had to set up our tents. Frosty rolled into camp and slept up in the tower by himself.
Day 31: Rich Mountain Firetower to Hemlock Hollow Inn
I woke up to what felt like someone spitting on my face. Rain. The condensation on my single walled tent had built up so much that it was literally raining inside my tent. My sleeping bag was starting to become saturated as the condensation sprayed down on me as the rain pounded the exterior of my tent. Time to pack up before things got even more wet. My pack felt like it weighed twice as much with the extra water weight. We assembled the hiker train again to keep the spirits up but we got split up after our first break at the shelter. The rain just kept coming down. 7 miles in I stopped at Allen Gap to wait on the others to catch up. You get to a point of being wet where waiting in the rain just doesn't phase you. The rest of the group caught up in about 30 minutes and informed us that they were going to head to the hostel a mile away to get a hot meal and warm bed. I was all in. When we got to the hostel they didn't have enough room for all of us. I ended up sleeping out on the porch floor and having the best nights sleep on the trail. I was just greatful to not be out in the rain in wet tent. After a delicious double bacon cheeseburger everything was right in the world.
Day 31: Hemlock Hollow Inn to an Unmarked Campsite
We got a huge breakfast at the hostel and headed out around 9. The sun was finally starting to poke through the clouds. I hiked with Frosty for most of the day. We ended up taking every side trail possible to all of the views. There were tons of amazing rock outcroppings that overlooked the Tennessee Valley. It's pretty amazing how the mountains just abruptly stop and turn into flatlands. Further along the trail we ended up walking on an exposed ridge that gave us views of the Tennessee Valley to the left and the North Carolina mountains to our right, pretty breathtaking. We were having such a good hike that we ended up just walking until we couldn't any longer and set up a stealth camp along a freshly built section of the trail.
Day 32: Unmarked Campsite to Hogback Ridge Shelter
We woke up to a little drizzle of rain, but my tent had no condensation so I was dry. The hike was pretty uneventful up until a huge huge climb up to Lick Rock. I almost keeled over and died right onto the flower covered mountainside. It was a brutal climb and left me mentally exhausted once I reached the top. I was relieved to finally reach the shelter.
We got a huge breakfast at the hostel and headed out around 9. The sun was finally starting to poke through the clouds. I hiked with Frosty for most of the day. We ended up taking every side trail possible to all of the views. There were tons of amazing rock outcroppings that overlooked the Tennessee Valley. It's pretty amazing how the mountains just abruptly stop and turn into flatlands. Further along the trail we ended up walking on an exposed ridge that gave us views of the Tennessee Valley to the left and the North Carolina mountains to our right, pretty breathtaking. We were having such a good hike that we ended up just walking until we couldn't any longer and set up a stealth camp along a freshly built section of the trail.
Day 32: Unmarked Campsite to Hogback Ridge Shelter
We woke up to a little drizzle of rain, but my tent had no condensation so I was dry. The hike was pretty uneventful up until a huge huge climb up to Lick Rock. I almost keeled over and died right onto the flower covered mountainside. It was a brutal climb and left me mentally exhausted once I reached the top. I was relieved to finally reach the shelter.
Day 33: Hogback Ridge Shelter to Spivey Gap
2 miles into our day we hit some amazing trail magic at Sam's Gap from fellow thru hiker "Fozzie's" parents. Delicious burgers, hot dogs, and beers we had. While we sat and ate Miss Janet, a famous trail angel, pulled up and dropped Fozzie, Tric, Jersey Girl, and Yukon off to do a slackpack. After the trail magic, the rest of hike was pretty amazing. A very gradual climb up some flower covered mountains. At the top, we reached Big Bald which was a huge exposed bald that gave us complete 360° views. Probably one of the best views of the trail. We could see all the mountains that we had climbed over, a pretty amazing feeling. After Big Bald, Frosty and I hiked 6 more miles down to Spivey Gap. We were the only ones at the camp besides the three Barred Owls who kept swooping around our heads and making their "Who Cooks For Who" sounding hoots. It was a pretty awesome campsite.
Day 34: Spivey Gap to Erwin, TN
Frosty and I packed up camp right before the rain hit. The hike into Erwin was very gradual, it skirted the mountains rather than going straight up and straight down. The rain kept up most of the day up until we started our descent down into Erwin. We got down into Erwin a little after lunch and picked up packages, hit up an All-you-can-eat Pizza place, and got a place to stay for the night. After we got settled, Frosty and I decided to start walking across town to do laundry (not realizing how big Erwin actually was). 30 minutes into our walk we decided that we should probably try to hitch across town. As soon as we tried to hitch Miss Janet rolled up and gave us a ride to the laundromat. The trail truly provides. It is absolutely amazing out here. Everyone that you meet is so incredibly generous and kind-hearted.
2 miles into our day we hit some amazing trail magic at Sam's Gap from fellow thru hiker "Fozzie's" parents. Delicious burgers, hot dogs, and beers we had. While we sat and ate Miss Janet, a famous trail angel, pulled up and dropped Fozzie, Tric, Jersey Girl, and Yukon off to do a slackpack. After the trail magic, the rest of hike was pretty amazing. A very gradual climb up some flower covered mountains. At the top, we reached Big Bald which was a huge exposed bald that gave us complete 360° views. Probably one of the best views of the trail. We could see all the mountains that we had climbed over, a pretty amazing feeling. After Big Bald, Frosty and I hiked 6 more miles down to Spivey Gap. We were the only ones at the camp besides the three Barred Owls who kept swooping around our heads and making their "Who Cooks For Who" sounding hoots. It was a pretty awesome campsite.
Day 34: Spivey Gap to Erwin, TN
Frosty and I packed up camp right before the rain hit. The hike into Erwin was very gradual, it skirted the mountains rather than going straight up and straight down. The rain kept up most of the day up until we started our descent down into Erwin. We got down into Erwin a little after lunch and picked up packages, hit up an All-you-can-eat Pizza place, and got a place to stay for the night. After we got settled, Frosty and I decided to start walking across town to do laundry (not realizing how big Erwin actually was). 30 minutes into our walk we decided that we should probably try to hitch across town. As soon as we tried to hitch Miss Janet rolled up and gave us a ride to the laundromat. The trail truly provides. It is absolutely amazing out here. Everyone that you meet is so incredibly generous and kind-hearted.
Day 33: Hogback Ridge Shelter to Spivey Gap
2 miles into our day we hit some amazing trail magic at Sam's Gap from fellow thru hiker "Fozzie's" parents. Delicious burgers, hot dogs, and beers we had. While we sat and ate Miss Janet, a famous trail angel, pulled up and dropped Fozzie, Tric, Jersey Girl, and Yukon off to do a slackpack. After the trail magic, the rest of hike was pretty amazing. A very gradual climb up some flower covered mountains. At the top, we reached Big Bald which was a huge exposed bald that gave us complete 360° views. Probably one of the best views of the trail. We could see all the mountains that we had climbed over, a pretty amazing feeling. After Big Bald, Frosty and I hiked 6 more miles down to Spivey Gap. We were the only ones at the camp besides the three Barred Owls who kept swooping around our heads and making their "Who Cooks For Who" sounding hoots. It was a pretty awesome campsite.
Day 34: Spivey Gap to Erwin, TN
Frosty and I packed up camp right before the rain hit. The hike into Erwin was very gradual, it skirted the mountains rather than going straight up and straight down. The rain kept up most of the day up until we started our descent down into Erwin. We got down into Erwin a little after lunch and picked up packages, hit up an All-you-can-eat Pizza place, and got a place to stay for the night. After we got settled, Frosty and I decided to start walking across town to do laundry (not realizing how big Erwin actually was). 30 minutes into our walk we decided that we should probably try to hitch across town. As soon as we tried to hitch Miss Janet rolled up and gave us a ride to the laundromat. The trail truly provides. It is absolutely amazing out here. Everyone that you meet is so incredibly generous and kind-hearted.
2 miles into our day we hit some amazing trail magic at Sam's Gap from fellow thru hiker "Fozzie's" parents. Delicious burgers, hot dogs, and beers we had. While we sat and ate Miss Janet, a famous trail angel, pulled up and dropped Fozzie, Tric, Jersey Girl, and Yukon off to do a slackpack. After the trail magic, the rest of hike was pretty amazing. A very gradual climb up some flower covered mountains. At the top, we reached Big Bald which was a huge exposed bald that gave us complete 360° views. Probably one of the best views of the trail. We could see all the mountains that we had climbed over, a pretty amazing feeling. After Big Bald, Frosty and I hiked 6 more miles down to Spivey Gap. We were the only ones at the camp besides the three Barred Owls who kept swooping around our heads and making their "Who Cooks For Who" sounding hoots. It was a pretty awesome campsite.
Day 34: Spivey Gap to Erwin, TN
Frosty and I packed up camp right before the rain hit. The hike into Erwin was very gradual, it skirted the mountains rather than going straight up and straight down. The rain kept up most of the day up until we started our descent down into Erwin. We got down into Erwin a little after lunch and picked up packages, hit up an All-you-can-eat Pizza place, and got a place to stay for the night. After we got settled, Frosty and I decided to start walking across town to do laundry (not realizing how big Erwin actually was). 30 minutes into our walk we decided that we should probably try to hitch across town. As soon as we tried to hitch Miss Janet rolled up and gave us a ride to the laundromat. The trail truly provides. It is absolutely amazing out here. Everyone that you meet is so incredibly generous and kind-hearted.
