Day 18 – NOC  to Sassafras Gap Shelter

Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North wind 2 to 7 mph.

Played with YouTube since my videos are too big for Trailjournals. Added YouTube videos to the last three days’ blogs. 

Showered, ate, packed, and headed out  a bit before 10:00. Mike left early, and we will meet up at camp. Got 7.1 nasty uphill miles to climb out of the NOC to Sassafras Gap. Hope to be there by 5:00.

11:00 granola break. Beautiful day. Mid-60s and breezy. Not another person out here.

Stopped at 1:00 to refill water. This is the only water between here and camp. Had a Snickers bar and rested in the cool of the spring for 15 minutes. 

YouTube video of waterfall on NOC climb out.

The final 2 miles to camp are going to suck….very steep.

Made Sassafras Gap Shelter at 3:30. One flat tent spot 100 yards below the shelter. Got camp and bear hang setup by 4:45. Taking my time today and not rushing to get set up as I rarely get to camp this early.

Texted with Mike. He will camp about 9 miles ahead of me at Brown Fork Gap. We should hook back up at Fontana before the Smoky Mountains. 

Which reminds me, we start into the Smoky Mountains on Saturday, and it looks like lots of rain from Saturday through at least Monday. That’s going to suck big time. 

No pain, no rain, no Maine.

I am happy with the short day today. My body still isn’t ready for longer days. It hasn’t even been 3 weeks on the trail yet. I’ll try bigger miles after Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP). It’s nice to NOT be in pain at camp, and I am in camp early enough to relax and enjoy myself before sunset. 

Had dinner at 6:00. Early for me. Nice to not feel exhausted in camp for a change. Settled into my tent and played some games till late (10:00…woohoo) in the evening. 

I don’t normally speak ill of my fellow hikers, but I’m glad I picked the tent spot way away from the shelter. There is a very annoying group of 4 young guys hanging out at the shelter. I ran into them earlier today at a water refill. Loud, slightly obnoxious, crude, and not doing a great job of respecting other hikers’ sense of space and noise. Very unusual for thru-hikers, and they are thru-hiking.

Technical Notes:

• Donuts 450
• Coffee 0
• Granola 200
• Snickers 250
• Knorr chicken rice 620
  • 2 cups full boil, simmer 12 minutes 
  • Use less water…try 1.5
• Dehydrated chicken 170
• Fritos 320
• Water 4 liters
• Miles 8.44
• Time 6:17
• Elevation gain 3385
• Calories consumed 2100
• Calories burned 4000