Day 15 - Sassafrass Gap to Cable Gap Shelter

Well, it was a good experiment, but not a complete success. After eating in the dark, we all got into the shelter and started getting ready for bed. Packs and clothes and food bags were hanging everywhere. I had a pretty cozy setup against the wall. Was really tired. Listened as the sounds of other hikers’ breathing deepened.

Eventually fell asleep but awoke around 12:45 to the sound of chomping teeth -- a mouse was on a wall ledge somewhere near my pack. He was eating something, yet I didn’t have any food in my pack. Was he shredding my precious TP to make a nest? Suddenly something fell onto my fleece jacket/pillow. What the hell was that? I didn’t have the nerve to feel around to find it.

Bad rest of the night, and of course exhausted at 7. We had a 15-mile day planned -- our biggest yet. First seven miles were OK -- a few steep parts. Then after crossing the road, the book said we’d come to a really steep climb. That’s an understatement!

Hard work on the feet, legs, and lungs. Miles were slow going. The bottoms of my feet were starting to hurt, and the tops of my toes were sore from hitting the front of my boots. Finally made it to the shelter around 4:30. Oh, Murph said my trail name should be Pack-On because I never take my pack off during breaks. Or Charlie suggested Kinetic -- will have to look up the definition of that one to make sure it fits.

Gave Dave a haircut tonight with his multi-tool. Took about an hour to thin out that nest. Then the scissors broke, and I had to clean up with a razor. It just started raining, so we threw all the gear inside the tent. I hate being so disorganized. To Fontana tomorrow.
P.S. -- Boy, did it pour last night. It was like being inside a washing machine, as Breaking Wind (wind surfer from Hawaii) said. Not a bad night’s sleep, though it was quite clammy inside the tent. And I found that I couldn’t sleep on my stomach because it hurt to put that much pressure on my toes. Oh, met a bunch of hikers last night who we hadn’t seen before -- Tortoise and Hare, Ken from Kansas, Honey and Moon, Hipbone and Mountain Goat, Mighty Mouse.