Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 109 – Some Dutch trail magic
12th November 2023
Fontana Hilton (2032.7) - Sassafras Gap Shelter (2054.6)
Daily miles: 21.9
Total miles: 2042.7
It was an interesting nights sleep. This is the first time we have all been in the shelter together. There was a little snoring which wasn’t a problem but there was quite a wind coming through. I woke up, waited too long to pee, got up to pee, struggled to get back to sleep, then struggled to wake up in the morning.
We all needed to get moving because we had to do 15 miles by 1pm (ish). I ate 10 chicken nuggets with bbq sauce for breakfast, and they were disgusting.
The Fontana Hilton
The guys were drinking beers for breakfast
I hiked out and I wasn’t looking forward to climbing the hills today. 4800ft before lunch.
The eye puff is back!
The lake through the trees
A very nice AT sign
Log steps
The Billy Goat Gruff memorial bridge sign
The bridge!
The trail was leafy but wet so the leaves weren’t so crunchy but they were slippy. I moved slowly up hill with Robin Hood, Late Start and Hendrix ahead of me. A couple of hours in May Queen caught up to me and we hiked together for a while until we found everyone taking a break at a shelter. We sat and ate some snacks. Neptune, Lemonhope and Thigh High rolled in too. The weather wasn’t great. The higher we got the more we were in a cloud and it was drippy and cold. This wasn’t a good sign for trail magic later.
Misty and drippy
Some of us like to use paper maps
Taking a break at a shelter
I needed to get moving and continue this uphill. I was doing ok and then everyone started to pass me. May Queen and Cal were basically running up the trail, then later Saftey and Sidequest ran past me and Thigh High was white knuckling on to the back of them and a few minutes later Lemonhope comes running down the trail shouting something about boats.
The trail is through there
Views at the top
I thought maybe I should try and pick up the pace and immediately slipped on some leaves. I did however jog the downhill parts to make up for how slow I was on the uphill parts. When I came to the road I could see everyone in the parking area and I got a cheer from them as I came down the trail. I made it before 1:30pm which was my goal and I wasn’t last - Neptune and Crunchy were behind me. Apparently I had come in only 5 minutes after the main group.
Toe’s parents had set up trail magic, drinks and snacks and there were also burgers cooking. I ate one which barely touched the sides and then went back for another. I loaded it with lettuce guacamole and cheese and it was very good.
Burgers at trail magic
We hung out there for a couple of hours. Thankfully the weather had turned and the sun was out and if anything it was too hot! We enjoyed sitting in the sun and we also readjusted our plan out of here. It was supposed to be 11 miles but we decided to go 6.8 to the next shelter instead.
Finding warmth in the sun
SOBO hiker super bubble plus Toe’s family
I left about 3:45pm and just before I left I managed to pee on my shorts and down my leg! I’ve no idea how that happened but it was a mess and it could have been a disaster. I felt absolutely terrible as I started hiking. I’m not good at going uphill on a full stomach. I felt like my bag was squeezing the food upwards and I felt it in my throat. I also had so much gas build up and I was parping every 5 minutes. I loosened my hip belt so that most of the weight was on my shoulders.
I was just struggling along then Toe, Jet and Crunchy caught up to me and we hiked together for a bit. I was hiking in the front but had to step off trail to do a really big fart and then I jumped on the back of the hiker train.
Crunchy went on ahead and Toe and I were farting a lot. We then picked up Hendrix who jumped on the back of the hiker train and I had to say code brown as a warning every time a fart came, which was often. Toe just farted in my face and then gave a warning after.
It was pretty funny (farts are funny) and we had a pretty entertaining hiker train. I was just about clinging onto the back as we went uphill and I was ok as long as they weren’t too steep but as soon as they were steep they got ahead of me.
The light through the trees
Rushing to get there before dark
Sunset through the trees
Made it to the top just as it got dark
We made it to the top just after sunset and then we had to go downhill to the shelter. Toes head lamp had run out of batteries so she walked in front of me and used my light to see. Not ideal as my light casts a shadow but better than not having a light at all.
We get to the shelter and there is one guy there and he’s got no idea what’s about to hit him as the “Heloton” rolls in.*
I forced down the last 10 nuggs for dinner and Robin Hood had 20 to get through. We chat and we laugh while the others play Monopoly Deal.
The problem with my mat now is that I blow it up so full to start with (so it deflates slower) it’s so hard and uncomfortable when I’m trying to get to sleep.
*We were referring to our group as the Peloton, but Neptune and Robin Hood (who claim to be white knuckling to keep up, but they aren’t) renamed it the Heloton because of the big mile days and the fact we call a 15 mile day a Nero!
