As I said, we began our day much earlier than most. After a close call over someone else's food up in the base camp kitchen, a large group of male hikers offered to share the huge breakfast they'd made with us. So, we feasted on tasty scrambled eggs, hash browns and even a biscuit before heading back to our humble abode to grab our packs and hit the trail. "You've got to fuel up for the trail," the one guy so graciously said. Fuel up we did and later were extremely glad we did. All we'd heard up to this point was how awful the "climb out of the gorge" was going to be...how it would test us both mentally and physically. Okay...we got the message....and boy, were those well-meaning advice-givers right on all counts!
The low clouds shrouded the gorge, giving it an overall eerie feeling as we made our way down the train tracks towards the trail head...
Some of the rock formations that hugged the trail were beyond huge and we couldn't help but wonder just how they got there. Hidden in the far reaches of the rocks appeared to be caves....and caves seem to set the imagination free! We spoke of that time as we walked towards Lance Creek, GA when we all three looked to our left at a rock formation and ALL swore that what we saw underneath possessed an uncanny resemblance to a human skull. Don't listen to those little, creepy voices in your heads, my friends. Just keep walking...
We stayed up in the clouds for the majority of the day....a nice mix of sweat and humidity left us dripping wet all over. Have I said that hiking the AT is NOT for diva's yet?
Hidden in the woods and not listed in the guide book I use, we found what appeared to be a great campsite...
It's not uncommon to come across various spots where it's obvious others have camped and that could be used if necessary but so far, most of these unlisted spots typically do not sit near a water source. For us, that is a bit of a problem so I tend to put us close to or at the water sources if I can. Just SO much easier but again...there are many places that are not listed in guide books that could be used in an emergency or if the mood just happens to strike as you pass one.
Thought this was kind of unique...added my own rock to it...
Of course...what goes down, must go up!
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| Some beautiful fall foliage! |
We stopped at one of those random camp sites for a short break...
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| Still walking in the clouds! |
We hadn't gone far before we came across another one of the creepy random sites nestled at the base of another one of those cave-filled spooky rock formations...
While this was actually a very beautiful spot, it would have been creepy as s**t once the sun went down! We kept on going...nope, not an option for the night for us for sure!
We paused for a few moments as we read this plaque, erected in memory of a park ranger who had died containing a forest fire back in 1968 not far from where we stood. It was a humbling moment to say the least...
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| Still.... |
Finally! Some sun broke through! It always makes everything seem better!
...and the climb up out of the gorge continued....gotta admit that my legs were exhausted at this point!
We took this selfie once we finally made the climb out of the gorge. Let's talk a bit of logistics here: We'd climbed up for 2961 feet over 5.8 miles, with the last 600ft being covered in only a bit over a mile of the 5.8. We'd planned a 10.3 mile day that day but when we finally reached the top of Swim Bald, we knew we were done. We decided to stop at Sassafras Gap Shelter for lunch (it was already almost 3pm) and to look at the map to see what we would have to traverse if we continued....
Guess what? Once those packs came off, we knew we were done for the day. Because of this, we would be a day late reaching our extraction point up at Fontana Dam so next came a series of texts and attempted phone calls to let everyone know and re-arrange the details of our pick-up. That being done, we set off to simply get our few camp chores done and RELAX!!!!
I've got to take a moment and point out something we found at this shelter area that almost made us sick to our stomachs....
Yeah...that's right...we found a huge pile of trash wrapped in a sheet of plastic that was more than likely put there to serve as a cover for the shelter in the event of bad weather. Someone had used it to put all the trash they found in the fire pit on it so they could use it. I mean really??? Who does that kind of thing? I can't even begin to imagine. This was not the only time we would find an amazing amount of trash in the fire pits. I can only surmise that it is left there by someone who might walk in from a nearby road to maybe spend one night or something. I would like to give those distance hikers the benefit of the doubt and believe they adhere to the "pack it in pack it out" rule that most of us follow. It's just sad...and so disappointing to see someone abuse our precious resources in such a manner. Okay...done with the lecture...but seriously....take it out with you! It's not that hard!
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| Sunset over Sassafras Gap Shelter area... |
Exhausted, we climbed into our tent probably around 7:15. It would have been a peaceful night had it not been for the what we assume were raccoons rummaging through all that trash left there. It did make us kind of nervous because of the bears that might have been interested in it as well. They'd probably already been there and didn't pay us a visit that night. Sleep was a long time coming but it was great to simply not be climbing! As tiring as it was, we conquered the gorge and fell asleep feeling accomplished!
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