My dad and I left the house at night the day before so we could start our hike in the morning and get to the shelter before dark. We had to sleep in a rest area on a very uncomfy air mattress, and in the morning our shuttle driver was going to pick us up and take us to Hot Springs, where we would start our hike. (pic below)

In the morning, we were dropped off at Hot Springs at 10:30 AM. We planned to make today a short day and to hike to the shelter 11 miles away. We crossed the French Broad River, and made our way along the trail. (pic below)

We first had a very big up, and it was very hot and humid, so we were sweating like crazy, and were drinking lots of water to stay hydrated. It took us about 1.5 hours to go up 1.5 miles, and by the time we reached the top, half of our water was consumed. After about 2 miles, we saw a water source and we started filling water, but later we realized the water was from a stagnant pond, and it was smelling really bad so we poured it out. We stopped at the pond to eat our donuts, and then moved on. Along the trail there were no water sources and no hikers. Once we finally found a water source, we cleaned out the stinky bottles and filled new water. Once we got to the shelter it was 7 PM, we ate Veg Biryani and went to bed.