It was pretty nice to get started early for such a long day. I was out of the shelter by 7:30, an hour earlier than usual. Jupiter left at almost the same time, and Matt was not far behind – everyone was eager to get into town. Hot Springs has a reputation as a great trail town with excellent hostels and after the Smokies we were ready for a nice town.
It was one of those totally uneventful days of endless trees. No views to speak of, no animals, just walking. The ecology is changing though, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m getting farther north or just lower in elevation. The miles flew by in the morning, the first few were almost entirely flat, then after a couple mile long climbs there was a long four or five mile downhill. My feet were feeling better than yesterday and this downhill was some of the smoothest trail anywhere so far. No rocks, no roots, no steps, no bumps – just smooth dirt trail switchbacking down the mountain. It made for some very quick miles.
I’ve been following the 15mi/day guide that I posted more rigorously than I expected. It became clear very early on that whoever made it put a lot of thought into it and created an excellent plan. Elevation and terrain both seem to be taken into account; some days are meant to be challenging but they have all been quite possible, even while dealing with injuries and sore feet. I’m sure that if I hadn’t been following the guide I would have stopped early on several days and be well behind my current progress. Looking at today’s 18.0 miles seemed daunting on paper with the few decent climbs and long downhills, but after actually walking it getting in 18 miles makes sense.
It was still a lot of miles though, especially coming at the end of three days of 15,18,15; and my feet paid the price toward the end. I may have mentioned it before but one of the best things about Hot Springs is that it sits directly on the trail. Main Street IS the AT. It’s a small town, only about 600 people but famous among the AT community. I finally got down the last hill into town about 3:00. The last mile felt long as it paralleled the road and the sounds of civilization poured out accompanied by glimpses of houses through the trees. Once on Main Street, my destination was very close – Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn. Really more of a hostel than an inn, the building is a national historic place and was built in 1840. It was originally a farm house and today resembles a smaller version of what I think of as a plantation house. It sounds like what really sets Elmer’s apart are the meals. Normally they do dinner and breakfast, but there was some kind of special Memorial Day gathering instead of hiker dinner this evening. I do know that dinner preparation was well under way when I arrived at 3, and not served until 7. Apparently it was thai food, and the kitchen looked like a five star restaurant. All the meals are “gourmet organic vegetarian”‘utilizing vegetables from their own garden. So it all ends up being a room to myself in a historic building and a handmade gourmet breakfast all for $26. Must be why everyone likes Hot Springs.
Kirin and Liz are here tonight too – I think that’s the last of the people from back at Helen that have been ahead of me. Most of them said when they left that they thought I’d catch up once my feet were better, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. This was the last big mileage day for a while though. I think I’m going to resist the strong urge to take yet another zero day here and keep pushing onwards, albeit at a bit slower pace for now.