Date: 2008-03-03
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter NC

To: Cable Gap Shelter NC
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 15 ¢ Monday, March 3¢ Cable Gap Shelter NC ¢ Miles Today: 15.2 Total Miles: 157.0We woke at 6:00 to another windy day and about 40 degrees. Since we had over 15 miles to go today, we went ahead and got up and were on the trail a bit before 7:00 fully dressed again in our wind suit also known as our rain gear. We had mixed skies for most of the morning, some of it looked blue and clear and others looked like a storm could be rolling in. By afternoon it decided it wanted to be a fully sunny day and we reached about 70 again today.   We saw our arms and legs again! Luckily we had our friend, the wind, keeping us nice and cool, so it was a great day for hiking on the AT.We saw some pretty good views of Fontana Dam. It appeared to be quite a distance in the valley below, so it's hard to believe we're going to be there tomorrow after just 7 or so more miles. We can definitely tell the water level is low as the lake is rimmed with a brown earth trim. We did not see any other hikers today but at our campsite tonight, Cable Gap Shelter, we again are joined by Josh and Amanda, who are on Trailjournals.com and have a website Fivemillionsteps.com. I forgot to mention last night when we met them just briefly hollering across the trail to each other at our last shelter, they said, "Hey, did you run into the three ladies at the tower who gave you chocolate?" And we said "Yeah, sorry we took all the chocolate." and they said "No problem, they gave us beer and they did find a little bit more chocolate" and he went on to say how he thought he won out on the deal after all. So pretty funny that the three ladies were Trail Angeling both of us, probably a couple of hours apart and met both of our needs - us with chocolate and them with beer. Josh also mentioned that he saw a bear print in the snow not far from our shelter last night though it was probably a day or two old. Josh and Amanda started the AT the day before us when thunderstorms and tornado warnings were in effect. When they got to the shelter that first evening in all the bad weather, the shelter was pretty full but there was definitely room for a couple more hikers. Unfortunately not a single hiker moved to make room for them. They were quite shocked as this is not what we've learned that thru-hikers are all about. But in thinking about it a little bit more, the people in the shelter were probably weekend hikers who don't know the tradition of making sure your fellow hikers are covered. North Carolina's trails today were quite funny; we had some flats, but not too many, and one ridiculously steep incline right after Rt. 143. The incline was about 100 yards straight uphill, with no stairs, no little water bars, nothing for traction, no boulders, no roots, just straight up. Several times we stopped to see if we were truly on a trail because it had no resemblance of a trail whatsoever. Josh had the same thoughts about that section of the trail. Overall our thoughts are that the North Carolina terrain, except for one day, has been much more difficult than Georgia. The inclines are much longer and can be just as steep as Georgia.   North Carolina has also welcomed us today with the green prickly vines that are growing right around the trail and sometimes right in the middle of the trail. We also had half a dozen or so blow downs that we had to either crawl underneath on our knees, climb over or go down a steep ravine to go around them. Obviously, starting the trail this early, the trail crews from the local hiking clubs have not gotten out and done their trail maintenance for the year.   We also climbed through several boulder fields today and that is always fun - something neat and different. We arrived to Cable Gap Shelter about 4:00 after a couple breaks during the day. We feel quite fine considering it was a 15 plus mile day. Our feet seem always to be the most tired; our legs are fine. Our bodies are holding up well. Grasshopper's achilles tendons are a little tight, probably from walking on all the snow. Brakeman stretched one calf a little bit too much the other day pushing off a rock but it seems to be healing fine. And both of us occasionally on the downhill feel knee pain but hopefully after a partial rest day tomorrow in Fontana Dam, we'll be ready for the Smokies, which should have gentler inclines and declines. We're still hoping that these last couple days in the 60s and 70s have melted most of the snow in the Smokies; however it is calling for thunderstorms tonight, which at the high elevations in the Smokies, who knows what that really means? It could mean snow.Josh and Amanda ran into Nancy from the Hike Inn, the owner of the Inn where we will be staying tomorrow and she warned them of thunderstorms coming through with high winds tonight. Therefore we are taking extra care to batten down our hatches really tight and put rocks on top of our stakes, as the soil is very loose. If all else fails, we'll make a dash for the shelter. Josh and Amanda are expecting us if we need to tonight. So wish us luck! Tomorrow will be a 7-mile trip to our motel where we can shower for the first time in 8 days. Looking forward to it!! As we lay in our tent before falling asleep, we thought of a couple trail names for Josh and Amanda if they don't get them. Josh is an astronomer so we're thinking maybe Starman. Amanda worked at REI in the Winston-Salem area and was talking about getting huge discounts off her hiking gear so perhaps the name Discount for her. If we catch up with them again in the Smokies, we'll have to pass on those suggestions. They hitch into Fontana Village tomorrow for resupply and then will get right back on the trail, so I'm not sure when we'll see them again.Good night from North Carolina.