April 16 - Something Found and Zero Day at Elmer’s

Post date: Apr 16, 2012 11:19:04 PM

Just as quickly as something has been lost, it can be found and such was the case with the wallet of "Five Pair" so a happy beginning of the day.

The hikers had 18 miles as the plan and Hot Springs as the destination having called ahead to make reservations at Sunnybank Inn (a/k/a Elmer’s), a well known hiker friendly stop along the AT. A fairly pleasant hike as it did not face the elevation increases the hikers had faced the previous week.

The hikers arrived in Hot Springs mid afternoon and made their way to Elmer’s and plan to take a zero day tomorrow, pick up mail drops and do some wash (yes, some will do up to five sets of clothing).

To back up slightly… yesterday, as “Five Pair” traveled along the trail she came across a bit of Trail Magic and there along side water, soda and candy bars was a walking stick stuck in the ground with “AT 2012 – Take Me to Maine” along with several hikers names engraved in the walking stick. “Five Pair” pulled it out of the ground and carried it on as the hikers ascended to the top of Max Patch. "Five Pair” described Max Patch as a mountain meadow straight out of the movie “Heidi.” Discussion ensued and it was agreed for the hikers to carry it along with them. “Spiderman” carried the stick up the inclines and “Austin” carried it down as they made their way towards Hot Springs. As the hikers continued they began to realize there was a problem with the walking stick… it was HEAVY. Thru hikers are quite conscious about the weight of the objects they carry and make qualitative assessments of an item based upon weight (in ounces) versus need/utility. With that in mind, as “Five Pair” readied to leave Rooaring Fork Shelter, she noticed the walking stick outside of the shelter and realized that the hikers had carried the walking stick as far as they were going to, so she extracted her knife and carved her name into the stick for the next hiker to carry it along.

273.9 miles complete/1,910.5 miles to go