Hiking and Hanging

Friday afternoon I picked up Boo from work and we zoomed up to Hot Springs, NC to meet up with some fellow hammock hangers and to do some hiking. I had a date with a 13.5 mile section of the AT that I just HAD to do. hahaha! Seriously, I needed to complete that section in order to be officially done with the Hot Springs area.

We pulled in around 7pm, said hellos, mingled a bit, then strung up our hammocks just in time for the sun to disappear. That night we all gathered around the campfire, catching up, trading trail stories, and talking gear. I hope I have everyones names, but here's a list of who was all there; Gunner, Running Feather, Hanging Burrito, Suess, Hogg Tyed, Shrek, Snakeman, Detailed Man, Tweaky, Shadow Moss, Vic, Hoop Cheese, Ground Hog, Bearpaw, Sleeps with Skunks, me, Boo, and Tweaky's kids. We were quite a group! After the fire died down Boo and I finally slinked back to our hammocks and called it a night. It was just after 11pm and I had to get some sleep b/c I had a 7am shuttle I to catch the next morning.

I woke up around 5am the next day and tried my hardest to get back to sleep, but I was too wired and nervous about my hike. I was going to hike from Max Patch to I-40 by myself and it was a looong 13.5 miles. I've been stressing about it all week. Wondering if it was too much too soon, and trying not to scare myself silly for hiking alone. But I knew that once it was done, I could officially cross off that 50 mile section from I-40 to Allen Gap off. So I laid in my hammock til 6am pondering my day. I finally got up and playfully tried to wake up Boo, whom was sleeping so soundly I could hear his soft snores whistling in the air. Since it was still pitch black out, I poked my headlamp under his tarp and whispered, "good morning." His eyes fluttered open and in a low growl, he said "turn that god damn light off." I know when my usually playful husband is serious and boy was he dead serious. hahaha! I shut off the light and scurried to the bathrooms to change in to my hiking clothes. When I got back, he's out of the hammock milling around. He wants to see me off to the outfitter, which is only a short 2 minute walk up the road, but I let him be the protector that he is and hop in the car. We drive down the block in search of some breakfast, but I see that Bluff Mt. Outfitters is already open, so we stop, I decide to just grab a pack of crackers, some coffee and a cliff bar for breakfast. We meet up with my shuttle guy and after Boo senses that I'll be safe, he kisses me good bye. The shuttle guy and I hop into his minivan and start the windy road towards Max Patch. He's a nice Irish gentleman with some good stories about Ireland.

By 8am, I am stepping foot on the AT and headed SOBO for I-40. I'm excited and a bit nervous. After the first 1/2 mile of gradual climb, I start to psyche myself out and start thinking about all kinds of scary scenarios. I stop and force myself to breathe, then I shake my head around, as to get rid of all my silly thoughts. I ask god for a sign that everything's going to be safe and then guess what.... Around the bend in the trail from where I stopped I hear... "SWEETPEA!!" No joke! As I look over every ounce of panic leaves my body and I grin and exclaim, "GREENBEAN!!" We met over labor day weekend when Boo and I were hiking the AT NOBO into Damascus, VA and she was SOBO'ing it to Springer Mt, GA from Harpers Ferry WV. She was sitting having a snack at a shelter we decided to stop by for lunch. We chit chatted a bit before she started hiking again. What a relief it was to see her smiling, perky, familiar face and what a coincidence! We catch up a bit and I ask her how her hike's been so far. She said she spent the night on top of Max Patch last night and caught the most amazing sunrise she's ever seen, and that she's ready to be off the trail. Other than that, she was still in good spirits. I snap a picture of her and we continue hiking and chatting away for the next mile. As we start to climb up another mountain, I see her walking further away from me and I laugh and yell, "I guess this is where we leave each other." She turns around and I say, "I can totally tell your a long distance hiker, cause you go up at the same speed that you climb down a mountain. And I, the section hiker, go slow on the up." We both laugh and say good byes. I see her take off over the mountain as I follow, huffing and puffing away. That moment changed the hike for me that day. Just knowing Greenbean was on the trail with me and knowing I wasn't alone, made all the difference to me. Now that I had my head on straight, I hiked on, admiring all the sights, sounds, flowers, frogs, butterflies, and birds, feeling safe.

By 10am, I reached Ground Hog Shelter, I had hiked 5.8 miles in 2 hours! and I was feeling good. I stopped just past the shelter at a campsite with an inviting log just begging for me to sit on and for 30 mins. I rested, loaded up on water, and ate a PB and snickers fun size bar. I knew I had a 2 mile climb up Snowbird Mountain ahead of me, so I was resting my feet up. At 10:30am, I started the slow ascent and told myself I would be up there by at least 12pm and b/c at noon, I had some serious plans for an orange I bought earlier that morning. I slugged it up Snowbird one switchback at a time at a slow and steady pace that I surprised myself at how little I stopped going up. I finally saw a blinding light at the end of the tree tunnel and when I hiked up to it, it led me onto an open, flowery, butterfly filled, bald mountain top. It was so beautiful, I had to stop in awe at the view and the sights. From here, to the south, you can see the views of the Smokey Mountains, which are right on the otherside of I-40, and they looked monstrous! To the east was an stunning view as well. It was so pretty up there that I spent another 20 minutes, just taking pictures and admiring the spectacular view. By the way, this is one of those mountain tops you can drive up to and I would say the view is well worth the trip. But it's much more satisfying knowing I climbed up here to see it :) Oh, and it was 12pm on the dot when I emerged from the forest onto the bald :)

After gulping down my sweet juicy orange and drinking 1/2 liter of water, I rounded the top of Snowbird Mountain and started my 5.5 mile descent down to I-40. There were some rolling sections, but for the most part, it was down hill. Sometimes, going downhill is tougher than going up. I plugged away at the miles and around the 4th mile down, I ran into a stunningly beautiful woman, who looked to be around 56 yrs old. I mean she took my breathe away. She was so pretty she could of been a model. She was NOBO'ing to Hot Springs from Newfound Gap and it was her 4th day on the trail. She saw me first, since I had my head down, watching where I was stepping, trying to avoid those damn acorns sprinkled all over the trail. She asks me, "are you Sweetpea?" I look up, surprised that she knew my name and say, "Yes! I'm Sweetpea." She says, "Greenbean told me to look out for you. She wanted to let you know she would be at Standing Bear hostel." I say, "Cool! I bet she's like 3 hours ahead of me isn't she?" and laugh. She laughs too and says, "No, it was just a little while ago." WOW... I've almost kept up with Greenbean! I thank the beautiful lady (forgot to get her name) and continue down the trail, hoping to catch Greenbean before she walks up to the hostel. I make it to the gravel road, for the turn off up to the hostel and realize I only have 30 minutes to hike 1 mile to I-40. I stop, take a break and drink some water before I hop back on the trail. I finally get to the end with 10 minutes to spare, and climb down the stairs where I wait for Boo. I call him to let him know I'm done and when we hang up, I sit back, let my tired feet rest, and grin. It's 2:50pm and I just hiked 13.5 miles :) I glance over at I-40 and can hear the cars rushing by. I look up and I can see the beginning of the Smokey Mountains and think, someday soon, I'll be coming down that end of the AT.

Boo pulls in at exactly 3pm. His hike this afternoon went well. He hiked a 5 mile section of the AT in Hot Springs from Tanyard Gap back to Hot Springs then hung out with the rest of the hammock hangers. As soon he parks the car, I pop the back and pull out my flip flops and peel off my boots and socks. I sling my day pack in, close the trunk and hop in the front seat, letting all my muscles slowly relax and sink into the seat. aaaahhhh.... Boo and I ride with the windows down on so I can let the sweat evaporate off me and my clothes (and to air out the car in case I reek! haha!) We make the turn off I-40 towards Hot Springs and I tell Boo I am famished! We pull into a gas station that has a subway and we split a foot long Italian sub and I drink like 5 soda refills. It feels like the best lunch ever.

We finally pull out and drive back into Hot Springs the back way, from Max Patch to Hot Springs, and I see all the gang chillin' around the campsite. I pull out my chair and plop down to relax the rest of the day. Around 6:30pm, someone starts the fire for our hot dog roast and as I'm chit chatting with Detailed Man, I'm introduced to his wife Tweaky. Come to find out, Tweaky and I graduated from the same high school, the same year! We even lived in the same neighborhood! We knew of each other, but didn't know each other. After we talked a bit, we realized we could of been friends, we both grew up in SoCal and moved to NC our last year of high school. We had so much in common it was so funny! We talked the rest of the night, catching up about all the people we knew and what they were up to. Sometimes I really think we live in a tiny, tiny world.

I ate two roasted (burnt) dogs that night, had a great day hike that enabled me to cross off a section of the AT from my NC list, had a nice time catching up and chit chatting with fellow hammock hangers around the campfire, and fell asleep soundly in my hammock. It was a great day :) The next morning, Boo and I woke up, said good byes to everyone and hopped in the car and headed for home and to our dogs. It really was a nice weekend in Hot Springs :) Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!