Day 83 – Path of the Angels

Last night was warm. With highs in the 90s yesterday and today, in theory it was below 70 at night, but I’m not sure that’s true. And there was no breeze at all, so my attempt to leave both vestibules open in my tent may not have done much to cool it down. Still, I slept well.

Towards Boiling Springs

This morning I got up around 6:30am and before packing, treated myself to a giant iced honey muffin and caffeine electrolyte drink mix for breakfast in bed. I was riding at 7:30 am on the trail. We don’t have a big day planned today since Queso was offered to stay at someone’s house in the Boiling Springs area. And she kindly allowed us to tag along as well. So we’ll probably only go about 10 miles today. Which can work pretty well for us to get most of the miles done before it gets too hot, as well as avoid potential afternoon and evening thunderstorms.

The first few kilometers were pretty easy today with some alternating ups and downs. I feel like a broken record but the terrain has been and appears to remain flat for a while, while the rocks remain a nuisance. After a memorable rock maze and a scramble, the rest of the hike went smoothly.

The last few kilometers pass through fields until you reach the edge of Boiling Springs.

Funny we were walking to Boiling Springs during the Foundry Day festival, so the town was packed! Upon arriving, I walked to the store and grabbed a cream soda because I had been talking about it for the past few days and they finally had something. As well as catching up with Blueberry Turtle. He told me about the Amish having a pretzel stand outside, which wasn’t really my style, but then he said the magic words: baked goods! So I headed there to check them out. They had cakes with all the cookie flavors and I instantly knew that was what I was in for. And they had a deal: if you got four, you saved a dollar. So naturally, I bought eight! To be clear, I shared it with the people I was walking with. But I ate three of them… They were really good though and that was the case for the rest of the day. After that, we got a call from Queso saying that Trail Magic had come back a bit and that they were making sliders. So, with whoopie pies in tow, I headed back that way. I missed it on the way into town when I started chatting with a retired Marine/State Trooper, Mark, who was asking me how my hike was going and recognized my accent since he spent 4 years in Wisconsin. Super nice guy, regards Mark!

I went back to the magic trail and got a slider from Slider! After chatting with him and his wife for a while, we headed back into town to see the supplier before they picked us up at 1pm. Outside the supplier they had a few clearance racks and they had a pair of shorts in my size, and I’ve been needing a second pair of shorts for some time now.

It was a great deal, but I’m still not sold on wearing lined shorts, but I bought them anyway. Immediately after that, we crossed the street when our vehicle had arrived. John picked us up and we piled into his vehicle, the four of us stinky hikers. Man, that car smelled when we closed the doors!

Path Angels

On the way to John’s house we introduced ourselves and chatted a little about the trail and how it was going so far. John and his wife, Natalie, are track angels in the truest sense. They picked us up from the road, took us to their house and made us feel like family. We showered there and they had drinks and snacks ready to go. They also did laundry, provided dinner, took us to REI, gave us beds, and lent us clothes. Not to mention a partial restock for us! They even brought out bottles of Epsom salts so we could soak our feet!

As we filtered through the shower one by one, the rest of us had some snacks and cold drinks while chatting with John Natalie. Their hospitality was truly amazing! After my turn in the shower, I hung out for a while until dinner was ready. By then Shooter and Birdie had arrived, which was incredible as they had walked a hundred miles in 4 days to catch up with us. Dinner was fantastic and consisted of Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, fresh bread and green beans.

After dinner, Natalie took us to REI to pick up whatever we needed. I ended up grabbing another pair of shorts and a new, lighter, quicker-drying shirt. At this point I just need the lightest, quickest drying materials I can get because I’m always sweating. It seemed very stormy when we got back in the car, but as far as I know, it was never too stormy. It got windy and drizzly, but the storms never fully formed or just didn’t reach where we were. Back at their house, they treated us to ice cream while we sat in their living room enjoying an Epsom salt foot bath. Yes, that’s right, just one day after the half-gallon challenge, I’m back with ice cream!

We then said goodbye to Blueberry Turtle as he headed home for a week. At that time, John was dropping him off at the bus station. After saying goodbye, Queso, Birdie, Big Stick, Shooter and I retreated to the basement and hung out for a while while drinking some cold drinks. And after staying up late watching part of the NHL playoff game and some YouTube videos on World War II history, we retired for the night. After a few hot days and nights, falling asleep in a cold basement was a luxury.

Statistics for day 83:

9.8 miles

1,611′ ascent, 2,077′ descent

Camping at Boiling Springs

29 DSLC…

Stove use times: 14

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