Date: 2004-05-08
From: Wesser Bald

To: Sassafrass Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

This morning started off great. The sunrise was really nice with fog in all the valleys and mountains jutting up out of the fog. Chris & Pat pushed on ahead of us, and Butterfingers, Ray-way, & I hiked the 6.5 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center by 11:30. The NOC is a neat place. There is a hiker hostel, an outfitter, 2 restaurants with a river right through the middle of it all. We went straight to the Rivers Edge Restaurant & got a nice big lunch. Then we hit the outfitter to get food & miscellaneous supplies.So I really thought about just spending the night at the NOC, but Ray-way, Butterfingers, Pat, & Chris were all heading up the trail to the next shelter even with the thunder in the background. So I decided to head out with them.The afternoon hike was a 6.9 mile hike of which about 6 miles was uphill. So as we started u the thunder grew closer & closer, then the rain started in about a quarter of the way up. As we climbed higher the rain turned into downpours...which at the time actually felt good because the day had been very hot & sunny.After a bit we got onto a ridge line that got thinner & thinner & became very exposed. That's when the lightning started. We saw lightning bolts on both sides of the ridge with practically instantaneous thunder after every one.At this point we decided to head back down to get some cover. Boy was I glad to have not bought metal hiking poles yet. And even more glad that the 3 guys I was hiking with were taller than me...(sorry Pat, Chris, & Ray-way) We hiked down about a 1/2-mile to an area with some rocks & rhododendrens. We put our packs down and spaced out some to wait out the storm.After about 10-15 minutes the rain turned to hail & the temperature dropped a little bit. Then the hail stopped & the lightning seemed to move off some & I thought we should make a break for it. Butterfingers & Ray-way thought we should wait a bit more & boy were they right. A second round of hail came & the lightning started up again on both sides of the ridge. After another 10 minutes or so the hail began to let up, but soon after a third round of hail came & the temperature dropped about 10°-15°F and the wind got stronger. This time the hail was large & began to really sting. After about 10 minutes the hail stopped & the lightning seemed to move off again. This time we decided to make a break for it & go up & over the mountain to the shelter, since we were all shivering pretty bad. Luckily the lightning had moved off some & the sky towards where we were hiking was clear. Although as we hiked I was definitely nervous. We finally made it to the shelter--cold & soaking wet. After a quick meal I went to bed.**********Dan reached the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center, North Carolina) around 11:30 AM today. It sounds like it's a pretty big complex out in the middle of nowhere with several buildings including a couple restaurants, an outfitter/gear shop, a hostel, etc. He reached the NOC a little earlier than expected, got his mail drop, and was contemplating moving on to the next shelter (about 7 miles further up the trail) to stay for the night. He says he has been trying to beat the heat lately - it's pretty hot down there. He just got some sunblock to try to prevent more sunburn. Not much of a report on the heel-maybe a *little* better, he says. Again, will fill in with more interesting details when we can get Dan's journal pages transcribed onto the website.Jen ('the scribe')**********