738. Wanda’s Wanda-rings: AT#4
Drive-by along the AT north of Hot Springs, NC

To represent my 4th AT “thru-hike” from Maine to Georgia, Mama Wolf carved the sign from what ended up being one of my most memorable experiences from that particular trek of mine from so long ago - meeting a gal named Trudy who was to become my good friend all these years later! At the time, I was still very shy and hardly talked to anyone on the trail. In fact, I had for years had a reputation for mostly avoiding people and towns altogether - just slipping into town during the middle of the day to resupply and then getting back out on the trail as fast as possible! So, my shyness had led me to miss out on what might have been considered normal town experiences and social interactions for many people hiking the AT.

However, when I met Trudy on the AT just outside of Hot Springs, NC in the late fall of that very quiet southbound year of 1988, I hadn’t spoken to anyone in quite a long time and was probably ready for a good chat, so we hit if off really well! She seemed genuinely interested in what I was doing and said she was day-hiking in the area and staying at Elmer’s Sunnyside Inn. I told her that I didn’t usually stay overnight in towns when I was out long-distance backpacking like that, but I was planning to get a shower at the Jesuit Hostel, and might consider staying there if no one else was there this late in the season. Sure enough, no one else was there, so I decided to stay over, showered, then all by myself started sorting and stocking the church hall for a clothing drive the next morning, and then - who should come in but Trudy with an invitation for a free dinner at the Sunnyside Inn! It seems she had told the owner Elmer about meeting me on the trail and he wanted to offer me free dinner in exchange for my telling my story - about why I was out there hiking so many trails so many times!

Well, I honestly didn’t know if I could do that! I really thought that would be way more “socializing” than I could handle back then, but Trudy convinced me that there would only be a half dozen or so quiet, friendly people at the table, and that the food was really good, so I went! And that is why I credit Trudy with not only helping get me “out of my shell” a bit to actually talk at the dinner table, but also helping me get the kind of regular “trail town experiences” that most backpackers have on their first AT hike, but I had to wait for 4 or 5 times through to have some of them myself! As for Trudy, she always likes to tell me now how meeting me changed her life. She went on to backpack the AT herself the following year, then worked as a medic at Yellowstone, where she helped me through a difficult time along the Continental Divide Trail, then she moved to Nome, Alaska, and eventually switched over from the medical field to becoming a full time state and national park ranger before retiring back to NC! So, I’m dedicating this letterbox to Trudy for our serendipitous meeting on my AT#4 and our continuing friendship through the years!

As for the sign that used to be at the site of my memorable dinner at the Sunnyside Inn so long ago, I didn’t see it while passing through Hot Springs recently, some 30 years later now, but I left the Mama Wolf carving of it just a few miles north of Hot Springs near the first AT road crossing of route 25 near Tanyard Gap. There is a rather sharp dirt road turnoff on the left just past the bridge that carries the AT across the highway here. Park on the west side/dead end portion of the road near the bridge, and take a sharp right to start heading north up the AT. After going up a few log steps to a reach a campfire landing, the trail horseshoe curves left to cross a very small gully. From the gully, take about 20 steps more on the trail to see the rock face on your right, then go about 8 steps north toward the rock face and look in the lower right corner under a larger rock with a mossy lower edge, a layer of leaves and another smaller rock. Please replace the box accordingly in hopes that memories like this may last for many years yet to come!

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