Date: 2018-03-14
From: The Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: clear sky

What goes down, must come up, and up, and up, and up! We departed the NOC at 9:30 and immediately started the 3,200¢ climb out of the NOC. The temps were a cool 25 degrees and flurries were flittering about in the wind. The temperature did not rise above freezing the entire day. We hiked about a mile until we found the first piece of flat ground. With our muscles now warm from the climb, we commenced our morning stretching routine. While we were stopped, a total of four hikers passed us by. After the short break, the climb intensified and we soon went by two of the hikers. The tandem consisted of a thru hiker, Atlas, and his son-n-law, Matt, who just jumped on the trail at the NOC to join his father-n-law for a few days. As the young man was catching his breath, Which Way breezed by saying, ¢This stuff will build character.¢ Atlas replied, ¢Every day is a leg day.¢ So true!About halfway into the six mile climb we came across a memorial to Wade Sutton, a firefighter who lost his life in 1960 while battling a blaze near this spot. We paused to pay tribute, placing a small stone on the memorial.During yesterday¢s descent into the NOC the decline was occasionally broken up with short periods of incline or flat ground. There were very few of those breaks today. The incline out of the NOC was only moderated by degrees of steepness¢primarily steep, steeper, and steepest. About four miles in we hit a section that traversed its way up the side of a rock strewn hill, making the going slow. The temperature had also dropped and the wind was being funneled up from well below. Although we had long ago shed our jackets, our hands remained frozen under our gloves.Shortly after zigzagging our way through the rock field, the trail skipped over to the south side of the mountain¢the ¢Jump Up Point.¢ The winds were calm here and the sun shined brightly. We found a cozy spot against the rock cropping and sat with our packs against our backs, facing south, letting the sun warm our core. We enjoyed a PBJ wrap and shared a bag of Doritos WW picked up yesterday at the General Store. The spot below offered a view of the NOC, which appeared further down than it did across. I took a few pictures, but can¢t seem to find them on my phone. As we were about to depart, the two hikers we had seen earlier showed up. We exchanged names and the thru hiker, Atlas, said he had been following our Trail Journal. Atlas started the AT about 10 days ago and was making really good time. He had previously hiked most of the northern third of the trail and climbed Katahdin seven times. As we got up to leave I noticed my sit pad and hiking pants were wet. Evidently I was leaning against the bite valve of my hydration system and most of the water in the reservoir ended up on the ground. Warm and fueled from our break we were ready to tackle the final mile of the climb. After initially heading the wrong direction, WW quickly course corrected and started up the steepest part of the climb. Sense of direction may not be one of her strong points, but hiking up mountains certainly is. She dominated the climb like the beast she is, increasing the gap between the two of us with each passing moment. The trail continued up the steep spur, never giving us a glimpse of the top. We rose over 800¢ in the last mile and then...what, this is it? No view! Not even a marker! Does this mountain even have a name? It was about as anticlimactic as it gets...and then we started down. A friend who hiked the AT in 2016 (trial name FOB) texted that the climb out of the NOC was the fourth most difficult on the trail. We will take that, as we finished it no worse for the wear.  Less than a mile up the trail we arrived at the Sassafrass Gap Shelter. At around 2PM, we were the first to arrive at the large shelter. It was very cold and there were no good places to tent. We were tempted to move on, but decided to stick with our low mileage strategy. We claimed two spots on the bottom deck of the shelter and fetched water from a nearby spring. Shortly, other hikers began showing up, including several faces from the past¢Zoltan, Josh, Heartburn, Close Call, Spirit Man, Nadia and Yarro. New acquaintances included Life Alert, Tangerine, Liam, Espresso & Clover, and  McCayla and her dog Slater. Others would show up after we were snuggled in our bags. Everyone agreed on one thing¢IT¢S COLD UP HERE!  ¢Next Step Elevation Data:Ascent ~ 3,200Descent ~ 520Grade ¢ 10.5 Weather:Day ¢ 32 degrees / Partly Cloudy, WindyNight ¢ 25 degrees / Rainy  Over the Horizon - Fontana Dam Anything worth doing, is better done TOGETHER--Which Way and Next Step!