The night was cold but inside the tent it stayed dry. I wore almost all my clothes to bed and managed to sleep reasonably well considering.
We made good time down into town. I saw two new species (for me! Total of seven so far this trip) of violets, and an orchid (pink lady slipper). A number of tall flowering dogwoods. We arrived at the Appalachian Trail-er Inn, which is one of the first buildings off the trail in Hot Springs, around 1:30. Shepherd, our host, told us we could leave laundry in a basket and he would wash and dry it for us. We put on borrowed clothes (there are usually spare clothed for this purpose in hiker hostels) and headed into town for a Southern lunch at the Smoky Mountain Diner. I had the Poor Man’s Dinner – beans, slaw, potato cakes and cornbread, mostly vegan. Then we headed to Bluff Mountain Outfitters who were able to fix my broken trekking pole tip. We checked out Dollar General for resupply and I was able to get almost everything I needed, minus granola. Gonna have to eat a more conventional American breakfast of Honeyed Oats for the next few days.
We hung out at the inn for some of the afternoon. Master Chef and Fuego were there for a bit, then headed on up trail. I chatted for a while with a hiker named Aaron who doesn’t have a trail name yet. Then he, Listener and I went for Mexican food at the brewery.
Listener is taking a zero day tomorrow so I’ll be hiking on my own until I meet up with someone else to hike with. Going to try to do 18ish miles tomorrow.
I’m in a top bunk in a crowded room tonight. Hope I can sleep!
