Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 14, Wednesday, 3/30 – I hiked 7 miles with Sprite today. It was a tough hike, the entire trail was uphill. There was about 3,000ft of elevation gain over the 7 mile hike. I was also sore and achy. My feet hurt and achilles felt tight. We ended the hike at Sassafras Gap Shelter which is at mile 144. We got in at 2:20, and there were 2 spots left in the shelter. This was highly fortunate because there will be 65 mph winds overnight and a rainstorm. Here’s a photo of the NOC below!

This will be the first night I’m staying in the shelters. I’m hoping the wind and rain will drown out the sound of the snoring from the other hikers. There will be a couple of dogs in the shelter, so I’m also hoping the mice will be scared away. Hikers cook and eat in the shelters, so the mice come through at night and eat the crumbs. It’s not uncommon to have mice crawl on hikers during the night.

I had a ton of trouble hanging food this evening. We tried to put 3 bags on a single line. When hoisting the food, the line snapped. So, I had to throw another line. I threw the rock bag over the tree, and the line got stuck.. Axe Hole and PM lifted me up, and I was able to get the line unstuck. At long last, I was able to get the line up the tree and the food bags hung.

Here are the sleeping conditions, it’ll be shoulder to shoulder tonight. I’m in the blue bag.