NOC to Sassafras Gap shelter (mile 143.6)

After a pretty decent sleep in a bunk room all to myself I reluctantly packed up and prepared to hit the trail.

A whole lot of up was on the menu today.

I had a Clif crunch bar for breakfast then started my slow weary climb. It was about 3000 feet over 7 or so miles. And it was a slog. The weather was pretty good at first, and at times was able to look back on the NOC and see how far I had climbed. There always seemed to be more up though. Finally I made it to the shelter and it was still early in the afternoon, only about three pm. The weather had turned a bit, it was getting cold and the clouds looked mean. Also the next shelter was about 8 miles away as I just did not have it in me after all that climbing.

There were already a few folks in the shelter and they were talking about an impending storm. About 5-6 inches of snow was predicted.

Yeah, I’ll stay here.

More folks wandered in as the day got colder and the sunset. Most had gotten caught in the rain and were not happy.

I had a mountain house dehydrated meal of chicken teriyaki. It was pretty awesome, but they are pretty expensive so can’t really have them every night. Still, it was nice as a treat to lift the spirits.

There are about 12 folk in the shelter tonight, including me. Hopefully the combined body heat will keep us warm.

That’s the NOC far below