4/14/01
This morning began with two thorns in my side: one was Sea Wolf packing early to get back on the trail. The second was an aching sensation in my hips, much more than the usual pains associated with the trail. For goodness sakes, I slept on my hiking poles last night. I had hidden them under the mattress then forgot about them when I crawled in bed last night. Ouch ! ! Anyway, Creeper and I ate a late breakfast at the Smokey Mtn. Diner in Hot Springs, then hobnobbed with the countless, and I do mean countless, number of thru-hikers as we covered the 4 blocks on main street to the outfitter. Yes, I couldn't resist finding yet another way to lighten my load. I'm trying out the alcohol stove which will save approximately 1.5 lbs. in the pack. I'll let you know how it works out.
Families arrived, first it was Creeper's family, including Christie, Stephen, Katie and Sarah. Then my parents, Jim and Jennie arrived and the fun began. Lunch at the Paddler's Pub out on the deck was first, then wonderful tasty trail magic treats including homemade banana pudding and my favorite chocolate peanut butter oatmeal sandies, and special malt beverages brought by Christie to the Rabbit. We then loaded up the two cars and drove to Max Patch and revisited .8 miles of the AT that Creeper and I had hiked two days ago. It was still beautiful and a nice spot to share quality time with families. If only Paula and Ineke had been there. But they are out west hiking their own hikes in the Grand Canyon and Bryce and Zion Parks in southern Utah during spring break. We performed our own trail magic with sodas left in the stream on the AT just before Max Patch, thanks to Jim and Jennie's generosity.
The evening culminated with a great dinner at the Bridge Street Restaurant and Inn. I got a real kick out of introducing the multitude of thru-hiker friends to Jim and Jennie and Creeper's family. It really helps in connecting the dots when reading journal entries to have actually met some of the fine people on the trail. The highlight of the entire day was Jennie meeting Serge Zwicker, who was enjoying himself at the Paddler's Pub when I stuck my head in the door after our evening meal. I took a photo of Jennie and Serge, with Jennie standing on the table next to him...she was still shorter than Serge! I hope the photo is a good one. Today's stats: I'm not sure, but it was a beautiful day for hiking, but nevertheless a great ZERO mile day. Mileage; 0.
