Make it count: Day #17

Sunday, March 29 - Day #17 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 15.1
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 186.0/2,193 (8.48%)

Walnut Mountain Shelter to Stealth Camp 2 miles north of Hot Springs, NC (tent - 2nd Stealth night of trip)

Total ascent - 3,014’
Total descent - 4,972’

Total States Completed - 1/14

I’m writing my blog while overlooking the town of Hot Springs, NC (see picture). I’m about 2 miles north of the city camping along the AT trail at a stealth site (meaning no specific camping destination listed on Guthook). It’s 6pm - it’s a beautiful night. I’m taking a moment to decompress and ponder the days events and the world as we know it.

I mentioned yesterday that I had a hotel set in Hot Springs, NC - where I planned to have a nice meal tonight, organize tomorrow, shower, do laundry, and have a couple good nights of rest with my Zero planned for tomorrow. Well - cancel all of that. All hotels and hostels are closed in this county - any that are open would be breaking the law. I booked this hotel on booking.com a few days ago. When I went to the location upon arriving into Hot Springs - a sign indicated they were closed and not to try to come in. I called - they said this went into effect a couple days ago. But - I had received no messages or emails to alert me.

Man - today was going pretty good up to this point. It started rotten with an early morning rain storm as I was taking down my tent - but the sun started to come out late morning. The 13.1 miles went quickly - I felt so strong. I got into Hot Springs around 1:30pm. I practically was running the last couple miles downhill - excited for a hotel room and a shower.

Well — BAM — a right punch to the gut. I was now standing outside this hotel in Hot Springs. This place is tiny - Bloomsdale, MO size. What do I do now? First thing - I just needed to chill. Nobody was hurt - there’s no catastrophe here. I just need to wrap my head around this. So - I walked through town to the 1 and only store that was open. Jello and Yard Sale were there. It made me feel better talking with them. Objective now - resupply to get me to Erwin, TN in 70 miles (5 days) and try to recharge my battery pack. Check - did this. Except I only got a partial charge on my battery pack - I may or may not run out of power before Erwin, TN.

Next goal - where do I go now? I’m tired. My head was prepared for 13.1 - not more than this. The trail maps state there’s some camping areas as you go north on the AT out of town. Only problem - it’s a Herculean climb of 1,000’ and 3.5 miles or so to get there. (If you’ve ever completed a marathon - you know that feeling at the end. Now - pretend someone walks over to you and states: “The marathon is actually 3 miles longer - and it’s all uphill”. There’s a good probability that would not sit well in your mind). So —- I wrapped my head around this for a while. I decided to head out and climb this hill - my pack 8 pounds heavier with a resupply. The goal was just to stealth camp at the earliest point possible. 2 miles up - here’s my home tonight.

This Covid-19 thing is something I never thought I’d ever see. When I headed for the hills out of town - it brought memories of the movie Red Dawn. I’m literally looking down on the town that is fully quarantined. There is a $500 fine if you are out of your home after 8pm.

I’ve had a chance to reflect for a couple hours as I walked up here. I’m actually coming to grips with this. Because now - I’m doing absolutely nothing more that anyone else is doing in full quarantine mode. I walked into town - I came into contact with no one. I walked into the store - after washing my hands first. Got my groceries. (I only touched the items I was going to buy in the store). Then - I washed my hands again and left the town.

So here’s what the realization of the situation is: there will be no hotel stays, there will be no showers, there will be no laundry. There will only be places I can walk into to resupply - that’s it. It’s all camping, getting my water from rivers/streams, cleaning up in creeks, and airing out my clothes at night. Could I benefit from a couple nights rest in a bed and some nice food on occasion- of course I could. But - it’s not a requirement. All you need is food/water, shelter, and clothing. The only thing I’m dependent on society for at this point is food. And - if all stores close down I can always ship boxes to local post offices as I head north. As of now - I’ll try to continue with the stores

It’s a crazy world. I wish nothing but good health to everyone out there. I’ve joked around with some of you guys in the past - saying that if things go bad - I can always just live off the land. Well - it’s coming pretty close to reality.

Good night from the hills of North Carolina!