Day 25: Hot Springs, North Carolina. One Eighth Of The Way Done!

6:28 pm

April 25, 2017

Total Miles: 284

I got back on the trail on Saturday night and camped near Max Patch instead of heading to the next shelter because the rain was not letting up.

Woke up Sunday to rain. And hiked on. The weather has started to affect me less and less. That night the rain had stopped for a while and I found a flat spot to set my tent up….

The rain returned hard and I was literally laying in a puddle. I got out in the middle of the night to pee and saw that I maybe didn’t pick the best spot 😂but just shook my head and got back in.

Woke up Monday and headed into town to Hot Springs, North Carolina. The trail goes directly down main street of this little town.

I wasn’t going to stay in town.. So I went to take a shower and do laundry and pick up not one…but TWO care packages sent to me from REI co workers and The Insognas.

It was awesome. Literally smiling ear to ear with tears in my eyes. The support is unreal. It was wonderful to open these up. ❤️❤️

While in the laundry mat I looked out and saw Scout and Pots from a couple weeks ago!! We were so stoked to have seen each other again. Alot of people took a couple zeros in Hot Springs due to the constant rain.

I decided to stay in a hostel so I could visit with friends.

Also I was pumped because Dani (Pots) decided she wanted to Buzz her hair as well!! So we went to a hair salon.. I guess small towns tend to have salons in trailers. Who knew.

Pots was smirking the whole time. She loved it! And was happy she didn’t have to worry about greasy hair. 😂

Then later we went to the mineral spa which was pretty much just a hot tub but it was AMAZING!! We even added some Epsom salts.

Spills had a group of friends who were going to go after us and wanted more people to do it so itwould be cheaper. SO… I stayed for round two with scout.

It was a blast. After the mineral spa we went to the tavern for food and drinks.

It was a great time in town. I saw quite a few people I hadn’t seen in a while and met a lot of new people as well. So glad I stayed!!

This morning we got a good breakfast at the Smoky Mountain Diner

And headed back out to the trail.

We kept today pretty short and hiked only 11 miles to the first shelter. On the way we passed a really beautiful pond. Wished it was farther out so we could of camped by it.

The wild flowers are still so beautiful!!!

I am excited for tomorrow. Its supposed to be good weather! Hoping to put some good miles in. 😊

One mile at a time.

Iz and Oz