I’m in Hot Springs, NC! And I found a reliable scale, finally. I weigh 163 lbs, which means I’ve not really changed at all. That’s good – I like hovering around 160. So anyway, when I came out of the Smokies I stayed at Standing Bear Farm. In the morning I had three microwave chimichangas and a *mug* of *brewed* coffee. It was wonderful. I covered 15.3 miles to Roaring Fork Shelter, passing the 11% mark on the way. There were signs posted at Roaring Fork that warned not to let your food out of sight for an instant, lest the resident bear steal all your food from under your nose. A helpful hiker had also posted a sign informing me that my food was not a concern, as the bear would more likely eat my person than my food. I bravely slept there the whole night through.
In the morning, having not been devoured by a bear, I hiked 14.8 miles to Deer Park Mountain Shelter, which put me 2.8 miles from Hot Springs. That shelter was designed by midgets or children. I had to duck in both the shelter and the privy to avoid bumping my head, my feet hung off the edge of the sleeping platform, and my knees wouldn’t allow the privy door to close (by a fairly large margin). That being said, the roof of the shelter was watertight, and since it rained from about 4pm to 4am, that earned my appreciation.
This morning I breezed through those three miles and checked into the Iron Horse Station hotel. Easy morning, and it will soon be a gluttonous evening full of beer and cheeseburgers.
Next definite mail stop is:
Andrew Howard
C/O General Delivery
Roan Mountain, TN 37687
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA: May 13, 2011
Uncle Larry said to tell you to keep up the good work he really enjoy reading all your messages !! At first he didn’t know about what you was doing this for but now that he has seen all the pictures & read all your messages he understands.He is like us he don’t think he could do it.But seeing it through your eyes is the next thing to being there!!! Your Mom & Dad stop by tonight & told us about your call so we fill a lot better.So take your pills & keep up the good work or walking.You are the only one in our family that will have done this & something you can someday tell your kids what you did it.Love you !!!!!
Just in case you’ve tried to call me lately, you should know that my phone was destroyed by errant jalapeno juice from a food day at work and I have another on order, which should arrive Monday.
Hi Andrew,
Your mom gave me your blog info and I’ve really enjoyed reading about your AT hike. It reminds me of a book I read years ago… kind of a “classic” in its own way. It’s called “Walk Across America” by Peter Jenkins. Think he was one of the first to take off on that kind of exploration walk and write about it, altho it was long before blogs!
There are people like you who actually DO this kind of thing, and people like me who admire people like you, and love reading about it. :} Take care of that knee! Best wishes.
Cindy Henry (your mom’s long-time -as opposed to old- friend)