Day 6, Hot Springs to Lemon Prong

I have eaten at Smoky Mountain Diner before, including during my 2017 thru-hike. As expected, the food today was good and we didn't wait long to be served.

By 10:30 a.m., Polecat and I were ready to say our goodbyes to Kim and get back on the trail.

The Appalachian Trail passes through the middle of Hot Springs and past the diner. As soon as we stepped out the door, we were on the trail. We followed the main road through town on a sidewalk, which led the whole way to where the trail turned to enter a forest.

Once we were walking on a single-track trail, we immediately began a long climb. Seriously, this was a l-o-n-g climb. From Hot Springs to the top of Bluff Mountain, a distance of about 11.5 miles, we went up 3,300 feet. That was just the difference between the two elevations. Add in several extra ascents after short drops and the climb was 5,785 feet.

I didn’t sleep well last night, and that did not prepare me well for this climb.

Although I was falling behind Polecat, I needed to stop a couple of times to rest. One stop was at Gragg Gap, four miles into the hike. The gap was named for Eva and George Gragg, who are buried there.

Eva Plemmons Gragg died in 1940 at the age of 58. Her headstone had been crudely carved from a local stone. The epitaph said, "Absent, Not Dead."

Eva married George Washington Gragg in 1910. The carving in his granite headstone was modern. He lived to the age of 85, dying in 1966.

I didn’t need a snack after my large second breakfast at the diner, so the breaks I took were short.

Eventually, I caught up to Polecat at a small campsite near a stream. Rather than decide now where to stop for the night, we agreed to make a decision when we got to Walnut Mountain Shelter. That was on the other side of this long climb up Bluff Mountain.

The climb never seemed to end, but I didn't need to stop again except when I took photos, and I didn't do that often. One stop was when I spotted some large-flowered bellwort in bloom. These wildflowers are native across a wide part of eastern and central North America. The yellow flowers bend down because of the weight of their large petals.

At around 5:30 p.m., I finally made the final push over Bluff Mountain (4,686 feet). Although the trail didn't cross the summit, it passed within a few yards of it.

I arrived at Walnut Mountain Shelter an hour later. Polecat and I stayed there for about 30 minutes to chat with other hikers. One of them was Moose Whisperer, who was thru-hiking the AT after completing the Colorado Trail, the Arizona Trail, and others.

The shelter is one of the smallest and oldest shelters on the AT. It only holds four people, though more can probably cram into it in bad weather. I wouldn't want to, though. It wasn't in good shape. Hikers said in the comments of the FarOut app that the roof leaks and mice frequently visit.

There weren't any good places to camp near the shelter that weren't already occupied. I knew we could find a campsite if we followed a side trail toward a water source, but Polecat and I decided to keep going. We knew we would find something better closer to the trail.

We didn't have to go far before reaching a spot that worked for us. It was barely more than a half-mile from the shelter and was near a small stream.

Incredibly, I thought I lost my tent stakes again while I was setting up. These were the ones Kim brought from home after I lost a set at Jerry Cabin Shelter.

"I can't believe I did it again!" I complained, then reached into my pocket and found the stakes.

I'm reasonably certain I'm not getting senile, but it sure felt like it.