Day 1: Hot Springs, NC

10/9/2010

My mother and grandmother drove to Madison to pick up Harlee and Ronan. They were staying with my parents for the week while Brent and I were hiking. After seeing the kids off, Brent and I traveled to Hot Springs, North Carolina. It took a little over five hours of driving. The scenery was gorgeous. We needed to refuel when we arrived, so we sought out the only gas station in Hot Springs. The two pumps were so old that

they didn't even have a card reader! They reminded me of an old gas station back in my home town of Hickory, MS.

After getting gas, we stopped by the Smoky Mountain Cafe for a late lunch. It didn't look like much from the outside. It shared a single story utilitarian metal building with the Dollar Store. However, the lunch was divine! Brent and I both had the country fried steak with vegetables. I (of course) chose the fried green tomatoes, which were excellent. This restaurant definitely earned its good reviews on Trip Advisor.

After lunch, we visited the Bluff Mountain Outfitter store to verify our shuttle arrangements. Brent loved browsing through the store, looking at the latest and greatest backpacking equipment. I loved the store's large selection of energy bars, dehydrated foods, and other goodies. The employees were very friendly and "trail-eccentric." You just have to meet them to know what I mean. :)

We left the store and headed to Creek Ridge Campground. It was on a one lane gravel road part of the way up a mountain on the outskirts of town. After waiting for someone to show up at the main "office," we hiked down a steep trail about 200 yards to the stream below. The primitive campsites were situated alongside the stream. There were six peekas (covered decks) to choose from. We chose one away from the other campers that had a nice large fire pit and picnic table. The view of the stream in front of the campsite was fantastic!

Brent was enjoying the serene sounds of the stream.

We enjoyed a Mountain House spaghetti dinner that evening with some dried fruit for dessert. We considered dinner a "practice run" to prepare us (or mostly me) for trail meals. I was highly surprised that the dehydrated meals tasted so good. They are at least as good as Hamburger Helper, if not better. The experience of this campground was great with the exception of the noise from the traffic of a nearby road. During the day, there was lots of traffic. However, at night, the traffic died down and we could enjoy the peacefulness of the area.