Me worry?

Sometimes.

I wish I could personally thank all the folks that are  helping to move Jeffrey North.

Here is the latest  news from the trail. I  add  pics to Jeff’s notes.

Mike

11:57 am on April 20, 2010

Hot Springs

Just a quick check in here from Hot Springs, NC. The rest of my time at Standing Bear was fun–Mr. Vix, Ian, Catfish and Charlie all made it down out of the Smokies. I finally met Magnet and Rockstar, a very nice older couple from PA, and some other folks whose names I had been seeing in the registers. We got one of the folks to drive us down to a Mexican BYOB restaurant for dinner. Felt great to have a big meal with lots of vegetables, and there was a live bluegrass band. Crazy place.

On the hike out of Standing Bear, I caught two bits of trail magic in just two miles. At the first, some former thru-hikers were set up and gave me 2 root beers, an orange, and some nutty bars. Then once I climbed Max Patch (this big, beautiful, grassy bald), there was a huge picnic with hot dogs, beer, fruit, sodas and sweets. I had four hot dogs and caught up with Ginger Snap and Orange Moon. Once I made it down to Roaring Fork Shelter, I was so full from hot dogs and beer that I didn’t even cook dinner.

Max Patch

That was about a 15 mile day coming out of Standing Bear, and yesterday was a 15 as well, from Roaring Fork to Deer Park Shelter. I tented for the first time in weeks with Ian and Mr. Vix, and had tortellini with cut up slim jims for dinner. Got to love trail cooking.

The hike this morning into Hot Springs was easy–just 3 miles down the mountain. Got here by 8:30 for a massive breakfast at the diner, split a motel room with a fellow New Hampshire-ite named Landfill, and am just enjoying my first “nero,” or near-zero, day. This is a pretty small town, so it is rather light on amenities. Likely my day will be filled with calling friends and family, doing some laundry, taking a nice shower, and getting to bed relatively early to get back on the trail tomorrow morning. I’m shooting to stop into Erwin, TN on Monday morning to pick up a mail drop. I’ll try and do an update from there. If not, expect a post from Damascus between May 1-3.

Happy Trails!

Jeff