My dad and I left our house the night before, and drove to NewFound Gap, so we could have an early start in the morning. Sleeping in the car was not exactly exciting or comfortable at all. We decided to only hike 10 miles this day because it was supposed to start raining at 1 PM. At 7 AM we left NewFound Gap and started our trip to Hot Springs, NC.

The hike was easy, and we went through it as a breeze. Since we were rested up and it was the first day. At around noon it started to drizzle, and we were getting a little worried we wouldn’t make it in time. We barely made it though. At the shelter, there were two other people collecting firewood, to make a fire to keep themselves, and other hikers warm. We helped collect a lot of firewood, but once the hikers started pouring in, we weren’t able to sit by the fire. There were about 20 hikers in that shelter, and boy was it packed. Luckily, we made it through the night, and were somewhat rested for day 2.