4/30 – 274 miles.
It was a short 3.5 miles into Hot Springs this morning. Five of us descended into town and hit the first restaurant we came to. I had a cheese and sausage omelet with hash browns. It didn’t take me long to eat it.
I booked a room at a local motel and showered off four days of sweat and grime. A lot of my trail mates are staying at the campground outside of town or have booked a bunk at the local hostel – trying to save a little money.
Today will be a rest, resupply, laundry, PO, outfitter, and eat day. I picked up my new tent (thanks Daryl for ordering it) and used the same box to mail my old one home. I picked up a new trail guide at the outfitters and used their Wifi to update my blog.
I will probably leave town tomorrow. It’s easy to stay another day but I want to avoid the trap. I wrote in the shelter register that “towns have a tractor beam pulling us in.” It’s easy to get caught in the comfort of civilization. I think one of the lessons of hiking the trail is learning to appreciate what we take for granted every day.
Glad to hear you got the tent OK. Let me know how it is after you have slept in it. I think it’s a little smaller than your old one, but you’ve lost so much weight that you’ll probably have plenty of room.
How many miles have you come?