Date: 2006-04-12
From: Wesser Bald Shelter

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Bright and early this morning I caught the sunrise and was able to snap off a few good pictures as the sun peaked over the mountain. This time of morning it is nice to sit and listen to the forest come to life. Typically one doesn¢t get to do this in the working world very often, so I am taking every advantage of this opportunity while I am able to. After a little oatmeal and dried fruit I was off to the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the Nantahala River. With just over a mile still to go down to the NOC, I started smelling bacon and eggs cooking at the restaurant. This made me pick up the pace a little hoping to eat a second breakfast. It¢s funny how your sense of smell comes to life when you are in need of a good meal. Also on the steep hike down to the NOC (from 4115¢ to 1740¢) the trees and wild flowers changed drastically. The plants at the lower elevations have started to bud out with fresh green leaves while the plants at the upper elevations have not. I reached the NOC about 10:00am and went shopping at the outfitter for a couple of supplies. I needed a new bear bag, some cord, batteries for my water purifier, and some Dr. Bronner¢s Soap. I was introduced to Dr. Bronner¢s soap through Salt and hope to expand on this stuff at a later date. If you ever get a chance sometime look it up because the label is worth reading. Salt told me I could use this stuff for everything from washing my cloths to brushing my teeth. Well I tried brushing my teeth with it and quickly realized that I am not the man I thought I was. This stuff taste awful or at least the eucalyptus scent does so I think that I will go back to using the modern toothpaste because I don¢t gag nearly as much when using it. After my resupply at the outfitter a couple of us met up and went over to The Rivers End Restaurant for some bacon, eggs, potatoes, toast, and coffee that I smelled earlier this morning while hiking. Even though it was 10:45am we ordered breakfast with the thought that we would return shortly for lunch. We did just that, after eating and sitting by the river for a while we decided to go back to the restaurant for the salad bar and lunch buffet. H-bomb and Shasta joined us this time and after a few trips to the buffet bar we had to call it quits. We were all about to pop but never the less happy to be full. With a full tummy and some additional junk from the outfitter in my pack we all sat around the waters edge and watched a couple of paddlers playing in the rapids. Thanks to Jane¢s mom the crew (Shasta, H-bomb, Jane, Baro, Gringo, Salt, The River Weasel, Jewler, Wanta-B, and myself) all had Easter candy to snack on for desert while watching. Around 2:30pm a couple of us decided to hike on toward Sassafras Gap Shelter for the night. This was a six-mile climb out of the river gorge going from 1740¢at the NOC up to 4330¢ at Sassafras Gap Shelter. The sugar buzz from all the candy helped with the climb. Along this section was a really nice overview of the Nantahala River Gorge below. There was no name for this overlook listed in the guidebook, but for some reason Sunrise/Sunset Rock sounded good to me. It was just that kind of view. I reached camp around 5:30pm knocking out the climb in just around three hours. Believe it or not by this time I was already ready hungry again and ready for supper. I walked by the shelter and it was really nicely built with two platforms for bunking, and a row of windows up top letting in natural light. I decided that I had come on this trip to camp so I walked on past the shelter and set my tent up in the clearing. Several of us gathered around the elevated cooking platform to cook and then all set around chatting for a while about our day. This is where I met the Mudbogger Brothers from New York, Cabroney from Massachusetts, Chardonnay from New Hampshire, and Zoomer from Nashville. Shortly after eating the near full moon came up and we headed one by one off to bed for the night.Tonight at Sassafras Gap Shelter: Zoomer (Tennessee), The Mudbogger Brothers (New York), Jason (Chicago), Lindsey ¢Cabroney¢ (Mass), and Erin ¢Chardonnay¢ (New Hampshire). Cabroney and Chardonnay acquired their names because they like to wine a lot.