Finding the Onsen in Hot Springs

The morning after our stay at Discerning Hiker, Ken, the owner (and a fellow Air Force vet), dropped me off at Pigeon River Bridge, along with my friends Good Vibes, the friendly Portuguese, and Peaks, the super-fast ultralight. From there we all began the next leg to Hot Springs, North Carolina.

After finishing the Smokies, I felt confident and relaxed, and I hiked at a leisurely pace. Along the way, I met some hikers, one of whom warned me that Snowbird Peak was a big climb. I smiled, thinking it couldn’t be worse than some of the bits I’d climbed over the last few hundred miles. The peak itself was topped by an FAA facility covered in strange antennas, but it offered some views, so I took a moment to walk around the summit before continuing.

With a decent phone signal up there, I decided to call my daughter for a while, and my granddaughter was making all kinds of cute baby noises in the background, which lifted my spirits even more. Later, Max Patch’s eyesight only made it better. It was a great day of hiking.

After a leisurely 16 mile day (just a few days ago I had never done more than 16), I stopped at the Roaring Forks Shelter and set up my tent to enjoy the luxury of my own space after a week of sleeping in crowded lodges in the Smokies. A while later, Good Vibes approached the shelter and we discussed our plans for the next hot springs.

In Franklin I had camped close to town to combine a nero and a cero, maximizing my rest time, and I was planning to do it again in Hot Springs. However, Good Vibes made a reservation at the end of our next day of hiking with 17+ miles to Hot Springs, and then zero afterwards. The phone signal in Roaring Forks was poor, so I would have to wait until the next day to get to a place with a signal to see if there were any vacancies at Appalachian Trail-er Hostel. Fate would decide if he could match Good Vibes.

As the night progressed, a few more arrived at the camp and we met Checkmate, a burly, dark-haired man from Czechia, who had a thick beard and a thicker accent. Later, Monarch, a kind older lady, also joined us.

The next day I hit the road and was able to contact Big Cat at Appalachian Trail-er from the top of a hill to confirm my reservation and sync my stay with Good Vibes. Now there was nothing left to do but finish the almost 18 mile hike to get there!

The day went by quickly and at times I felt like I was almost running because I was in such a hurry to get to the city. Also, Hot Springs would be the first town on my hike where the trail goes directly through it, and all the shops and restaurants were within short, walkable distances of each other along the trail.

As I got closer to town, I started running into several older hikers who passed me as if I were standing still. First it was a group of three ladies and then two older gentlemen. Later, one of the men came back and walked past me to look for something he had dropped, and then walked past me again after finding it. Their backpacks were much lighter, but they moved quickly for what would be expected from someone of their apparent age.

As I walked down the hill, slowing the downward momentum with my trekking poles to reduce the end-of-day knee pain, I caught a glimpse of the city through the trees.

Good Vibes caught up with me and we walked out of the woods to the parking area where the group of elderly people were getting into their cars. They were very kind to us two hikers and even offered to take us into town, but we were almost there so we respectfully declined.

When we turned the corner and came to a road, there was a small house with a quaint front yard, and upon seeing the sign out front, we realized it was our hostel. Good Vibes, ever the purist, insisted that we cross the street and follow the marked trail along the sidewalk so we wouldn’t have to backtrack to walk that section of the real trail when we left town.

At the hostel, we were greeted by Big Cat, one of the two managers, who gave us standard hostel information and let us choose bunk beds. There were a few people and only the upper bunks remained.

In talking with other guests, I discovered that the weather that hit me in Fontana also closed the road between the Smokies and Gatlinburg, so many hikers were stuck there for several days, lining up a week’s worth of hikers in a bubble and freeing them all while Good Vibes and I were passing through. What we expected to be a quiet stay at the hostel ended up being quite full.

Staying in the bunks below us, I met a couple of hikers: Swift and Penguin. Penguin had an international English newscaster accent, similar to Good Vibes, and I discovered he was from Norway. Swift also looked very familiar to me and I realized I was following her. youtube channel and I knew her as Laura Evelyn Ashley.

I saw my other Norwegian friend, who was an avid cyclist but had not yet adopted a name for the trail, and had vehemently refused to be called «The Norwegian» or «Norway.» He was setting up his tent in the front yard, still swinging his thick sweater, and introduced us to his hiking partner, a young woman named Feather. He joined Good Vibes and me as we walked to the Smoky Mountain Diner, the only restaurant in town that was open. Feather stayed behind.

I ordered a large burger and asked for a side and an extra dessert. I should have taken note of the portion sizes though. Even with my hiker hunger, I couldn’t finish all the chips or pecan pie. Good Vibes and my Norwegian friend hit it off, and Good Vibes was excited to meet another European.

When we finished at the diner, both Good Vibes and I discovered that our respective German sides were lacking good beer, which was not offered at the Smoky Mountain Diner. Luckily, the Dollar General next door had us covered, and as a bonus, we ran into Good Vibes’ friend Z and her crew, Pips, Mouse, and Brother Bear, who were staying at the same hostel as us. Since they didn’t sell beer in cans, I bought a 12-pack of Yuengling to share and we headed back to the hostel as dusk fell.

Checkmate later showed up, opting to camp in the hostel courtyard. While sharing beers on the porch, we had an interesting conversation with the European men about their customs and immigration experiences. Good Vibes, as expected, had a great experience. He told the unenthusiastic TSA employee that he was coming to hike the Appalachian Trail, melting the man’s stern exterior to reveal that he’d hiked the PCT before, and suddenly the agent was eager to talk about hiking gear. The others, unfortunately, did not suffer the same fate, but although the news frequently reported apparent hostility towards foreigners, none of them had particularly difficult experiences.

The next morning, I wanted to catch up on my writing and discovered that Penguin was also a Trek blogger because she was doing the same thing. Meanwhile, Swift was editing videos. We were all working and focused, turning the hostel living room into a content creation factory.

Good Vibes and I had previously discussed that passing through a town called Hot Springs would require a visit to a hot spring. I messaged some of my Japanese friends in a group chat to tell them the name of the city, and they insisted that I needed to find one onsen. That settled the matter. While I was working on my blog post, Good Vibes booked us into the nearby spa along with Checkmate and another guy who called himself Flat Tire. It turns out that Flat Tire also has a youtube channel.

I was lucky to find a pair of swimsuits that looked good with the borrowed clothes at our hostel, but everyone else was fine with underwear. We each had a beer from the leftover 12-pack and had a chance to relax in the hot water for about an hour, listening to Checkmate and Flat Tire tell their stories of getting stranded in Gatlinburg and trying moonshine. Flat Tire said it even had some moonshine left.

When our time at the spa was over, we got dressed and prepared to leave, anticipating dinner plans. Although the pizzeria in town was highly recommended, according to the law of the Appalachian Trail, the place you most want to go will always be closed, and this was no exception. Luckily, there was Big Pillow Brewery with a Mexican restaurant right next door, so my onsen buddies and I went to the brewery, but they decided to head back to the hostel first. I stopped and drank a beer while I waited on them, admiring the pub’s quirky art.

More hikers began to arrive in ones or twos. Some I had met and some I hadn’t, but a good crowd began to gather at the brewery. I saw that the tacos had little value in terms of how much you got for your money, so I ordered a burrito. Although it came with fries and was significantly better than the tacos, one of the other hikers found the nachos to be the best value trick. The toppings were piled high and very abundant.

When the crowd reached its peak, there were probably a dozen hikers, including my hot tub buddies, along with Sauce, Fraggle, Goldbond, Cowboy, and Monarch, plus a few I didn’t know.

When Flat Tire showed up, he called me outside and pulled out an unmarked bottle. “This is Gatlinburg moonshine,” he said, offering me a sip. I tried it and was surprised that not only did it not taste like paint thinner, but it was actually pretty good.

Back inside, I finished my last round and called it a night, but some of the others seemed to be just getting started. I walked back to the hostel in the last light of the day, cleaned myself up, relaxed and climbed into bed.

The next morning I got up, put on my clean hiking clothes, and then walked to the Smoky Mountain Diner for breakfast. I sat alone at a table waiting for Good Vibes and some of my other friends to join, but a table of mostly new hikers were there eating and invited me to join them. I met an older man named Dance-On, a younger man named Sunrise, a younger lady who called herself Comfy, and several others.

Good Vibes, Checkmate, and some of my other friends arrived when I got my food and took a nearby table. Meanwhile, the people at my table were slowly finishing up and leaving, mostly getting back on the road. I stopped by to say hello to my friends before returning to get my backpack from the hostel. I passed Comfy on his way back to the trail and was planning on doing the same.

On my way out of town, Good Vibes caught up with me.

«Yeah, I feel pretty rested. I’m going to head out. I just need to stop by the post office to mail this.» I held up the postcards I had filled out for my grandparents.

«I also need to mail some things. But I think I can hang around. Maybe I’ll leave later, or maybe even tomorrow.»

We walked together to the post office and I dropped my postcards in the mailbox. When I was going to talk to the employee, I punched him. «I’ll see you on the way.»

«See you, brother!» said. I followed the sidewalk marked with AT tiles until I found the path over the river and out of town, climbing up and looking toward Hot Springs through the trees.