Max Patch to Hot Springs

“Billie and I left Friday about 1 pm and headed to Hot Springs. Our plan was to
drive to Max Patch, camp out, then drive to Hot Springs and get a shuttle back
to Max Patch and hike to Hot Springs.
Well, we got a late start and the weather was not the best, rain and wind all
the way there, so we decided to go to Hot Springs and stay at the motel Friday
night then catch a shuttle from the outfitter Sat morning. So we did.
We got to Bluff Mountain Outfitters around 9 am and got our shuttle scheduled
for about 9:45, so we just hung out there and looked at some gear (can you
say....Wish List?)Finally we loaded our packs, drove to the parking lot to park
our car, then we got in the van and headed to Max Patch. It was a little windy
and raining some, but not enough to discourage us.
We got to Max Patch parking area and started our trek. We were still a little
stiff and weren't quite awake yet, so we just took it easy and started heading
up the hill. It seemed like it took forever, but when we reached the top we just
stopped and took some pictures. The mountain/cloud mix were incredible. It
looked totally different from the last time I was there. The wind was steady and
there was a constant mist blowing on us. After a few minutes of picture taking
we headed north, going down the hill.
Once we made it into the woods the wind died down almost instantly. We walked
by a few camp sites as we headed deeper into the trees. The rain had also
stopped. The temperature was in the high 40's, perfect hiking weather.
We got to the Roaring Fork shelter and I knew something was wrong. My map
showed it was about 6 miles from Max Patch road, and we were there in less than
an hour. Then I remembered. During my thru hike they built this new shelter to
replace the old one. My map still showed the old shelter which was a few miles
farther. That made sense, plus looking at the plate inside the shelter talked
about this being the "new" shelter.
We hiked on to the Walnut Mountain Shelter. When we got there, there were 3
guys already set up. The rain had picked up a little and it was windy. The wind
was blowing right into the shelter. We fixed some lunch and decided to head out
to lower ground to get out of the wind. As we were walking I was constantly
thinking how far we should go. I wanted to get to Hot Springs early Sunday so we
could get a room and enjoy the hot tub; so the more we hiked today, the less we
have to hike tomorrow.
After the climb up Bluff Mountain I knew it was mostly down hill to Hot
Springs. I told Billie if we could go to the Deer Park Mountain Shelter we could
have a very short, easy day Sunday. She agreed. The only problem was she has
never hiked over about 12 miles in a day. So I fibbed a little, never telling
her the real mileage we were doing.
Well it started getting late and Billie was getting a little nervous and tired.
She has never night hiked. I started thinking maybe this would be a little much
for her so I decided to keep my eyes open for a nice flat spot to set up the
tent if we had to. Well by this time we were on a ridge with no place for a
tent. We kept pushing and I knew we were getting closer to the shelter. I would
go ahead of her looking for the shelter then wait for her to catch up. She was
getting tired and her legs were starting to hurt. Finally we found the shelter.
We hiked down the blue blazed trail and I seen some bags hanging in the tree,
so I knew someone was there. Three thru-hikers were in the shelter, they offered
to give us a space but we opted to tent. They were already settled in and I
didn't want to disturb them too much, they had a lot more hiking ahead of them.
After setting up the tent, hanging the food bags, we settled in for the night.
I asked Billie if she knew how far she had hiked, she thought it was about 10-12
miles. I smiled and told her "17"! She thought I was messing with her, so I
showed her the map. Then she wanted to kill me.
The next morning(after a heavy rain) I got up, filtered some water and cooked
us some breakfast. I was a little sore, Billie was even worse. 2 of the 3 other
hikers were gone. I talked to the other guy for a few minutes and then he left.
Finally we packed up everything and left. Billie was packed first, so I told her
to go ahead and I will catch her later after I finish packing.
I left the shelter and took a few pics. I figured I would catch up with Billie
before long.....I was wrong. I started pushing it trying to catch her but never
seen her. We only had 3.2 miles to go, and she left about 15 minutes before me,
so I thought it would be easy. I got to the parking lot and there she was.
We headed to the Hot Springs Resort, got a room, and enjoyed the hot tub. We
left later to get some dinner, went back to the room, and got back in the hot
tub. What a way to end a hike.

Here are some pics.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/570550048AUjKnh
last edited: 3/16/09 10:08:25 PM”

“Looks like you created a monster in duping her into the 17:) Won't be able to keep her on the farm now. Hot Springs is one of my favorite towns on the AT. I got blown off Max Patch in '05 during a white out blizzard and spent 3 days in town, watching the final four. Great time.”

“Thats COOL!!!Great Report!”

“thanks for sharing.a great adventure”

“Nice report Bill. Boy I sure wish I had gone on that hike with you. We'd probably have to take turns in the hot tub with Billie since it doesn't look like it would fit all 3 of us.

The clouds filling the valleys look awesome.”

“I was telling my wife about the Paddler's Pub and how cool it was, then when we got there, it was closed. We found out that the guy who owned it was killed last November in a car accident. Someone else bought it and is about to tear it down to build something else. I was heart-broken.”

“Yeah, me too. It may have been my best night of the whole experience. I really like the story of how they got their beer license:)”

“Never heard that story. Tell us about it.”

“Great report Mildbill... I can't wait to get down there to do that section.

Side note to self.. When hiking with Mildbill, bring a map.. He's a b&llsh$tter..

'32oz”

“here i was gonna make a smart ass comment about where are the hot tub pics, but you smart alecs actually have some....heh, classic!”

“The Paddlers Pub is going to be torn down?

Oh, man, the world really is coming to an end.”

“Once upon a time I took my 11 yo daughter to go on a dayhike with wildbill (I just can't go with this mildbill name, dude). Our choices were supposed to be a 5 mile loop or a 8 mile loop. We decided to go big with the 8 mile loop. I couldn't believe how slow we were moving even though I thought my daughter was hiking at a good pace. Turns out there was another loop option for this hike of 11.5 miles that wildbill didn't realize we were on till he looked at the map later that night.”

“Great trip report Wildbill. thanks for posting! I enjoyed the pictures too.”

“Okay, here's the story as I heard it from the bartender at the Paddler's Pub in March of '05. Any discrepancies should be attributed to drinking free beer on that particular evening rather than the veracity of the teller.

It was a cold and stormy night...wait, wait, that's not it.

Evidently, whatever county Hot Springs is located in was, at one time, a dry county. The gentleman interested in opening the Pub somehow had enough political clout to bring a referendum (what we need in this country is a "reeferendum") to the voters, allowing a beer license be issued to him in order to give the Pub a chance at being profitable. Really, how in the hell would a pub have a chance of making money if it can only sell lemonade? Anywhoo, the battle raged back and forth, Christians vs the rum soaked demonists; preached against in church on Sunday by people like Hyway and plotted and schemed about on back porches by old moonshiners and ne'er do wells like MarkO. The battle raged back and forth for the period of time before the vote and everyone knew it was going to be close. Straw polls were taken with such accuracy that they were virtually certain it would come down to one or two votes.

People came out in droves (what the hell, exactly, is a "drove" and how do people come out in them?), church mobs arriving in their finery and skanky old misfits showing up in old pickup trucks or just staggering to the polls. In the town of Hot Springs there was one particular Vietnam Vet, known to have more than a mild acquaintance with the spirits, who had not yet appeared to cast his ballot and the polls were about to close. Had he been kidnapped and held by the Cultists or merely too drunk to roll on in to perform his civic duty? No one knew for sure. Moments before the polls closed, his old pickup truck came skidding sideways into the gravel parking lot and this fine Patriot emerged to cast his vote as real Americans do in all times of genuine need. It so happened that it was his single vote that allowed the Paddler's Pub to be issued a beer license. The owner was so grateful that he proclaimed this civic hero would be given free beer forever. Thruhikers are forever in his debt...except, of course, it's now closing:(”

“I'm confused. Am I a rum soaked demonists, a pulpit pounder, or a teetotaler?”

“Actually, you're all three...so is MarkO:)”

“Ok, then, since this seems to be wide open I choose to be a rum soaked demonist pounding a teetotaler on a pulpit.”

“Define "pounding".”

“paragraph breaks are your friend. they are also the reader's friend”

“It was late and I was tired.”

“it's ok. i'll let you go with 3 raps to the knuckles”

“at least he hikes and post reports..*snicker*”

“The paragraph breaks are there, just not the indent first word of new paragraph. Looks like a cut and paste job. I wonder if he took this from someone's blog”

“LOL! We all know it could never be taken from your blog.”

“true. this was my hike and I didn't even go”

“That's almost a naughty photo of you in the hot tub, Bill.”

“I saw a boob in one pic





Too bad it was just wildbill”

“I did the section from Waterville School Road to Hot Springs a week ago. Too bad Max Patch was fogged in.

Here are my pics:



[img]
by Mocs123[img]”

“That's what Max Patch looked like the first time I was there in '06.”

“Hyway you never did splain "pounding", paragraph breaks or not!

I'm thanking that "pounding a teetotaler on a pulpit" surely hasta stoke the fars of hell, particularly if you'z a rum soaked demonist.”

“If its one of these teetotalers I'm pounding i probably deserve to go to hell ...
[img]
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gv63JaIhkLg/SXKr_3O5i1I/AAAAAAAAALE/3wTw9IWSeqQ/s400/Lips-That-Touch-Liquor-Shall-Not-Touch-Ours.jpg[/img]”