Day 25

Origin: Roaring Fork Shelter
Destination: Hot Springs, NC
Today's miles: 18.0
Total miles: 274.9

Last night was the coldest I've been, although I don't think the temperature got as low as it had the last few nights we were in the Smokies. I think it was just that in the Smokies, we packed 20 people into a shelter meant to accommodate 12, so there was a lot of body heat, whereas we had spare room last night. We had another big mileage day today, putting our three day daily average over 17 miles. The motivation was to get to Hot Springs, a tiny town that is the first to have the AT run right through it. We haven't been in a town since leaving Franklin, NC and we're taking our first zero day of the trip. Most hikers we've talked to have taken at least one already and many have taken more than that.

Time to rest up a bit and get some food that hasn't been dried or frozen.