Date: 2005-04-02
From: Jump-up Lookout

To: Sassafras gap shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: snow

Alas, our hopes of waking up to a sun-shiny day were dashed with a steady rain starting around 5am and tapering to a drizzle by the time we had packed up. We set out towards the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) around 7:45am and were down the mountain in less than two hours. Again, the longing for "real food" helped us cover the 3.9 miles between us and the NOC. We went straight to the restaurant reeking of hiker funkness, but we didn't care. We were bound and determined to eat our body-weight in grits, eggs, biscuits, and sausage. As we got there, the line stretched out the door and the wait was nearly 30 minutes. Looking very much like hikers (I think the backpacks & hiking poles made it pretty obvious), we were approached by a fellow hiker who was next on the list for a table. He asked if we'd like to join him, and of course we said yes! As it turns out he is Tiny Dancer's friend, Coach from Alaska. Breakfast with him was great and the food wasn't half bad either. He is an expert in the hiker-art of "Yogi-ing," taken from the cartoon of the same name where Yogi and BooBoo would prey on the sympathies of park visitors. After breakfast, we showered, dried our gear, and had lunch at the same restaurant. We ended up leaving the NOC later than anticipated, but still intended to hike up the mountain out of the valley. The NOC sits at 1700' and our day's destination is roughly 4000 feet. As we left the NOC and got about halfway up the mountain, what began as drizzle soon turned to a mix of sleet and snow. At the time it didn't seem that odd since it mimicked the weather for the last two days. At breakfast earlier we had heard the forcast was more light rain through the afternoon and clearing skies tomorrow. Lost in translation was the part about high winds and falling temps that makes rain = snow at high altitudes. We continued on up the mountain unaware of the precipitous change in weather conditions that awaited us.We hiked up the mountain with gorgeous views of snow covered trees. It was definitely a postcard picture scene. Feeling inspired by the views we continued onward towards the shelter. In good spirits and with full bellies, we had no doubts that we would make it to the shelter by nightfall. But Mother Nature had other plans for Bug & Ms. Priss. We continued to follow white blazes and footprints in the snow... As sunlight faded the winds picked up and began to create drifts up to 3-4 feet & obscure the footprints in the snow. Even still the AT footpath was obvious, but we decided to stop short of the shelter when we could no longer locate a white blaze. We found a low spot on the trail, but off the windy ridgeline. As we cleared the snow away for our tent the winds began to pick up, but we managed to get it set up in record time. While Priss decorated the interior of the tent, Bug boiled water on the AMP Classic alcohol stove. Although we had heard that alcohol stoves don't work well in cold weather, it performed well in the freezing temps (~ 20 degrees). We had warm tea to wash down our Snicker bars and warm water bottles to keep our feet warm through the night.