Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 110 – Nantahala Outdoor Centre
13th November 2023
Sassafras Gap Shelter (2054.6) - Wayah Bald (2078.9)
Daily miles: 24.3
Total miles: 2067
It was the usual night of a symphony of snoring and blowing up air mattresses at 3am.
The first goal of the day was to get to the NOC which is the Nantahala Outdoor Centre and there are a bunch of hiker amenities there. Laundry, showers, food, outfitter…
I hiked with Hendrix and Neptune and Neptune was asking us all sorts of questions which made the time pass quicker. It was 7 miles of mostly downhill. There was a nice lookout over the clouds.
Started hiking in the dark
Above the clouds
Sunrise
Viewpoint
The sun shining through the mist
Hiking with Neptune
We arrived at the NOC and organised laundry right away. Having peed on my shorts yesterday I was very happy about this. I went in with Neptune, Hendrix and I think Thigh High then Neptune organised showers and towels so that was nice of him.
Second priority was getting a chocolate milk and a Ginger Ale from the general store. Then we went over the road to the outfitter where we could plug in our electronics to charge.
The showers were a bit of a trek, and the key cards they gave us didn’t work so before we got there Robin Hood had climbed into the window of the men’s and we couldn’t get into the women’s so we were going to wait and go in the men’s, but Jet managed to slide open the window and May Queen got in.
May Queen breaking in to the shower block
It was too much of a trek to get the key cards fixed
We all showered and initially I wasn’t going to bother but I’m glad I did because it felt good.
Back at the outfitter we were able to do a Darn Tough exchange so I got some new socks to replace the ones with holes in the bottom. By this time it was 11am and it was time to go and eat food. I got a chicken sandwich with sriracha marinade and it was delicious but I suffered - my nose and eyes were running.
The outfitter
Chicken sriracha burger
We are going into town to resupply tomorrow and I probably had enough food but I panic bought some snacks just in case. I got a Twix, a Milky Way and a bag of Cheeto Puffs.
I hiked out at 12:45pm with 17 miles left. Not every one is going to the same place today, some are doing 30 miles which is not something I, and a lot of us, want to do.
Trail goes this way
Love the light on the trail
Don’t want to crush the Cheeto Puffs
It was a lot of uphill too and I suffered a lot again with a very sore stomach and I struggled to hike. I feel like I’m now intolerant to real food. I thought I wouldn’t see anyone again until camp but I caught up to them at water, then again at the fire tower where we took a nice group shot (how do I look so small!)
Lovely bit of trail work
The climb was painful but the views we worth it
It didn’t make me climb any quicker because I just kept turning to look at the views
Ridges
Beautiful
Another day another tower
This is why I struggle to keep up, didn’t realise I was THAT short!
The super bubble
It was now 4pm with 10.8 miles still to do and very little light left. I hiked with the group for a couple of miles downhill then lost them all again when it started going uphill again.
I got to a viewpoint just as it was getting dark but the sunset was on the other side of side of the ridge. My headlamp went on around 7pm and I had my audio book in and was just focused on getting to the shelter. I caught up to Thigh High who was getting water and he said the others just left 5 mins ago so I’m not far behind.
Just before it got too dark to see
I hiked as quickly as I could in the dark and got to the fire tower around 8:15pm. They were all on top where it was really windy. I asked if there was any space. There was, but people had plonked themselves down anywhere and it was slightly frustrating because it was so cold and I had nowhere to go. I sat right in the middle of everything and ate my Cheeto Puffs for dinner. That’s all I could be bothered with. Eventually I pushed my way into a space because all I wanted to do was get into my bag and be warm. I was close to have a bit of a meltdown because I was cold and tired.
We are crammed in. I can feel May Queen and Toe either side of me. I didn’t pee before bed so I am worried about getting up in the night. It’s so windy up here I have put my tent fly over my bag to try and keep out some of the wind.
Later on a car pulls up and someone is walking around with a torch and everyone is freaking out thinking it’s the cops.
Sardines
