Date: 2017-02-27
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: overcast clouds

So... today was frustrating. It turns out that, even if I had managed to get my packages yesterday, I would have only gotten 1 of them - the other didn't come in until 11:00 today, which means T.O.G. didn't send my package until the day AFTER I gave it to them. That was frustrating. What makes it even more frustrating is that I didn't even get OUT until 1:30 almost, so I didn't get NEARLY as far as I had hoped - I made it to Sassafras Gap Shelter @ 143.7 (6.8 miles), but I had been hoping to possibly make it as far as Brown Fork Shelter @ 152.8, which would have made 15.9 for the day. I was hoping to make it that far so that I could be a Fontana until you hit Mollie's Ridge, 14 miles later, and Fontana is just like NOC - you go ALL the way down, then come ALL the way back up. I was hoping to hit Fontana tomorrow night because that would mean that I could make it to Newfound Gap - basically the only road in the Smokies, on a Friday night - Nana and Papa are willing to put me up on a Friday and Saturday night, in a hotel room even, but I have to make it to Gatlinburg (or at least Newfound Gap, from which I can have road access to Gatlinburg). If I could have made it by Friday, I could have had my first actual ZERO day since 2/12. (I went up to Springer with the family on 2/13 before actually starting on 2/14.) I haven't taken any full-on zero days yet - I've just taken a few NERO (near zero) days, which weren't really neroes, just shorter days (coming into Neels Gap on 2/16 was my shortest day at like 5 miles). I was looking forward to a full-on ZERO day in an actual, nice HOTEL room, not a MOTEL like I had to do in Franklin. Unfortunately, I won't hit Newfound Gap until the night, either the Friday or the Saturday, so I won't get to spend a full day with them, unless I damn near kill myself getting to Fontana by tomorrow night, or doing some absolutely RIDICULOUS miles one day in the Smokies. I suppose it's for the best that I don't get to Fontana until Wednesday, since my package from home won't arrive until at least then. Besides, if I can make it to Cable Gap - 158.9 (15.2 miles) - tomorrow, it'll put me less than 6 miles from Fontana, so I should be able to get in and have the better part of the day to relax. That'll be nice. I didn't get a chance to call the GSMNP today like I had planned, since the shelter doesn't have NEARLY a strong enough signal to support a call. I need to call from Cable if possible, but definitely from Fontana if I can't tomorrow. I NEED to see about fixing my permit from the day-use to the thru-hiker permit. If not, I'll need to spend $20 to get the correct permit. Oh well, I hope to get a MUCH earlier start tomorrow. I've got the wrap from NOC that I was planning on eating for lunch today, so that'll make a good breakfast in the morning. The bad thing is that using the GPS feature on my watch for only 3 hours used up about 20-30% of my battery, so I don't really ahve enough to use it all day tomorrow. I think I'll find a good spot for lunch and just turn it on after lunch as a measure of how far it is to the shelter, to try and preserve battery life. I think that's what I'll HAVE to do moving forward.I think I'm about done for the night. Oh, wait - I met a couple new people tonight. One is "Penguin" (because he has a jacket with a logo for some company named Penguin) and some guy named "Acadius," which is the scientific species name for the "Northern Saw Whet Owl," because he did his senior project on them. He has a wildlife management degree, which is cool. His senior project for his degree involved tagging and banding the birds, hence the name. Anyway, it's late, so I'm going to sleep now.