Dates ........ Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Miles ........ 13.1 miles, climb 1406', 3660 foot descent
From ........ Walnut Mt Shelter (4280')
To ............. Hot Springs NC (1326') Elmer's Hostel
Weather ... Clear, breezy and dry 54 degF Am, sunny 70 degrees afternoon.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Bluff Mt (4686'), Little Bottom gorge, Deer Park Mt. and shelter, Hot Springs NC, Terrorist Attack news, French Broad River, Elmers Hostel, Hot Springs baths.

I was wide awake before 5 AM, so I packed up and hit the trail, wanting to try my new Tikka LED headlamp and some night hiking. I turned that little thing on and it was like turning the headlights on a car. The trail lit up and I could see just fine. Fortunately, the clouds had dissipated overnight so it was clear. I enjoyed the night hike, seeing the day come alive in the woods as the sun rose. It was a crisp, clear morning when I reached the 4686 foot summit of Bluff Mountain.

A mountain this high in NH would be rocky and barren, well above NH's 4000 foot treeline. Bluff Mountain's summit is heavily wooded, not really affording any views. It was a long descent from Bluff's summit to Hot Springs, but I could take my time - I was early and ahead of schedule. On the way down I still had to climb Lamb Knob, about a 700 foot climb, and climb out of several lesser gaps or notches. It is never really "all downhill", the trail always has a few climbs just to keep you from getting to happy with yourself.

Morning sun breaks through crest of Bluff Mountain. September 11, 2001

The Little Bottom gorge the trail followed for a few miles was beautiful but so heavily wooded and lush that is was difficult to get a good representative picture. From the top of the ridge along the trail you could hear water rushing through the gorge below, but not see it.

I took a leisurely break in the sunshine and enjoyed lunch at the Deer Park Mt. shelter, just 3 miles from Hot Springs. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I took the opportunity to bask my aching feet in the sunshine. I am not happy with my new hiking boots but there's not a helluva lot I can do about it now.

I came into hot springs about 2:00 PM. I went to the Jesuit Hostel, expecting to stay there but it was no longer a hostel, not since Spring 2000. But my map, guidebook and data book (2001) still listed them as a hostel. My Thru-Hikers Companion listed Elmer's and others, so I was sure I'd find something. I spotted the Smokey Mountain Restaurant and headed there. I had visions of devouring a huge burger. People were standing around in little groups on the street and in front of the restaurant - it struck me as odd. I got in front of the restaurant - hot, tired, hungry and very sweaty, and a man asked if I'd heard the news. No, I replied, I just came off the mountain. "What news?" I asked. He told me Arab terrorists had just blown up both World Trade Center towers in New York with hijacked planes and flew another plane into the Pentagon, blowing it up and that another plane had crashed in PA. I said, "Man, don't go making up wild stories like that - its just too scary and unbelievable". He said - "Really - I'm not kidding - check it out in the restaurant." I did. It was true. All too true. I found it unbelievable and totally shocking.

I listened to the news as I ate my double burger. Then I went for a phone and called home. After a while I got through and all was well in the southern tier of New York and northern tier of Pennsylvania. I updated them on my progress, they repeated and updated the news for me, and I went on about my business in Hot Springs.

I got a room and took a much-needed hot shower at Elmers - a beautiful, rustic, quaint old Victorian home full of antique furnishings. Elmer himself was a very laid back guy that loved hikers, evidently. He was also a dedicated vegetarian and trail / naturalist activist as evidenced by the bumper stickers on his vehicle and back porch. For $15.00 I got a private room, shower, and all the NPR I could listen to. He did not have a working TV.

I had errands to run: I dropped my laundry off in the Laundromat where, when I went to get change, the proprietor shouted LOOK - LOOK and pointed to the 5" black and white TV on his counter. I looked just in time to see one of the towers in flames and a plane fly into the other tower, then footage of people running as the towers collapsed and then footage of the Pentagon in flames and pandemonium in Washington DC. I'd seen enough. I put my wash in, went to the post office and picked up my package, went to the grocery store for bread and returned to dry my wash. The TV was again showing the same images and speculating on who had done it and how high the death toll would go.

I returned to Elmer's and put my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together and put my clean clothes on. Then I strolled down to the Hot Springs baths and parted with $12.00 for a one hour soak in a hot tub of mineral water in the hopes it would make my aching feet, especially my aching left foot, feel better. It didn't - it only shriveled up my skin. Then I went back to the diner across from Elmer's and got a nice fried shrimp dinner. Finally, I returned to Elmers, said a prayer, and hit the sack as everyone was still listening intently to NPR's extended coverage of the day's events. That soft bed felt so good. I was tired enough to fall asleep right away.