Hot Springs Newspaper

Slackpacking: Weekend hiking on the Appalachian Trail

The 22 miles we covered over 2 1/2 days near Asheville hardly seemed scoff-worthy. With long strenuous climbs through deep woods and sometimes steep, rocky and twisty terrain, in nearly six-hour stretches, stopping only briefly for water or snack breaks, it was exhilarating. We did make one indulgence though, spending both nights in hotel rooms rather than sleeping bags under the stars.

Even so, we can still claim to be among the more than 2 million people who experience some part of the trail each year. The most revered are "through-hikers," trekking the entire 2,181-mile distance nonstop over some four to six months between Georgia and Maine.

Hard-core hikers consider those who stick to day hikes, with the night spent in town rather than a tent, slackers. My friend and I - she a marathoner, me an avid exerciser and tennis player, both in our early 50s - beg to differ. For those without the time to spend half a year in the wilderness, day hikes are a great alternative.

Our home base was the tiny Blue Ridge mountain town of Hot Springs , near the Tennessee border. It's a 45-minute drive from Asheville, where our planes - from Chicago and New York - landed minutes apart. Asheville is a lively, artsy mountain city well worth a visit itself. But hiking was our goal, so after picking up our rental car and stopping for a delicious lunch of quiche and salads at Asheville's vegetarian-friendly Early Girl Eatery, we headed up curvy Route 25 to Hot Springs.

The town sits at the confluence of the French Broad River and Spring Creek , and is named after natural mineral hot springs bubbling up from those waters. Privately owned for more than two centuries, the springs site has housed a series of resort hotels promoting the water's supposed healing powers and drawing tourists year round.

The Appalachian Trail is the other big draw, and one of the region's main economic drivers.

The trail literally runs smack through Hot Springs, and the Appalachian Trail's diamond-shaped logo can be found in Hot Springs on the sidewalk that runs along Bridge Street , the main drag. The street is even marked with a couple of the trail's familiar white blazes, more commonly found on trees and rocks in the woods, at the turnoff where the trail and the street diverge.

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