Hot Springs, NC

I know why they call it Hot Springs! It's definitely hot.

We've arrived in Hot Springs for a hammock hangout meeting here. My hiking partner Brian wanted to spend a weekend here hanging out with his buddies before we leave for the AT. As a dedicated ground dwelling tent owner I wasn't sure how I'd be welcomed, and I did actually try a hammock for an afternoon nap, but I wasn't able to fall asleep, and I'm sure I couldn't spend a whole night like that.

Our plan is to spend the weekend here, then set out on the Appalachian Trail from here to do a shakedown hike. The main purpose is to test out my knee. I've been hiking on it, but not with the full weight of my pack yet, and even if I'd had a chance to hike with it, I couldn't match the hilly/mountainous terrain of the AT while I was still in Florida. The plan is to load ourselves up with a couple of days of food and all the gear we'll need for the AT and get out to test my knee. If I can't take the uphill/downhill hiking there are several places we can bail off the trail. If I can't do it, Brian will just go on alone to Maine without me. That's a sad thought, and hard for me to accept it might happen, but there is no point going up to Maine and getting myself stuck on Mt Katahdin or in the 100 mile wilderness.

The other purpose of the shakedown is to go one last time through our gear to make sure we're not carrying anything we don't need, and are carrying everything we do need. On that point, my backpack spontaneously delaminated on both the zips tonight. So now I have a pack with a top and front zips that are useless. I'm sure I can manage just for the shakedown, but somehow I'm going to have to get my pack replaced before we can head north.