Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Hot Springs, North Carolina

A Much Needed Day to Recuperate

"Zero Day" Number 2

Elmer's Sunnybank Inn

After we took care of some shopping in the morning, with the hope we had learned something about buying just enough, but no more, food for three days on the trail; and purchasing X a better suited rain jacket and a new pair of shorts for her new “minus ten pound” weight (with N getting the old pair of shorts as a “hand me down” for his new “minus 16 pound” weight), the late afternoon and evening were devoted to two highlights of the entire trip so far.

We walked the AT to the other end of town and the French Broad River for a soak in a tub of Hot Springs’s famed mineral waters and a couples massage. N’s sore back really needed both, and X enjoyed the massage so much so she fell asleep during…We had anticipated a great gourmet vegetarian meal and stimulating conversation with Elmer Hall and our fellow guests at his Sunnybank Inn, and the evening did not disappoint. Special kudos for the pecan pie, which N usually avoids because it can be made so sicky-sweet. Elmer’s recipe tonight was right on the money, and the perfect end to a wonderful meal.

If we say any more about our second day in Hot Springs, it will be impossible for our readers to feel any sympathy for us once we head back into the Spartan life of the woods, or to believe we are having to “rough it” at all on the AT, so we will close until we’re back on the trail, walking to Maine.

There’s diamonds in the sidewalks.

Thru hikers line Main Street.

Here’s a town to rest yourself for anyone who’s beat

There’s pleasure for the taking,

for any hard walking (woman or) man

Who hikes the Trail App-a-la-chian…

[with apologies to The Boss]

Note: After two days of walking around town, and a trip to the post office to mail a few things home, Shock & Awe have become only a shadow of their former selves…

Sunnybank Inn

X on the porch at Sunnybank Inn
Elmer's Library

[For long distance hikers (100+ miles), Elmer’s can’t be beat.]

Smoky Mountain Diner, Bridge Street

N shows off taking a steep hill in his crocs.
X exchanges town info.

Hot Springs Resort & Spa

N "takes the waters" at the Hot Springs Spa: Even on a warm day in May, the mineral waters overlooking Spring Creek and the French Broad River were quite soothing, as was the hot stone massage that followed...
X concludes no trip to Hot Springs is complete without an hour in a hot tub.