Day 13 – NOC and Cheoh Bald

Last night was my first night hiking in a shelter. Although I stayed in one last year on a weekend hike in NH. I couldn’t sleep well at night, with a lot of tossing and turning. It didn’t help that we were pretty cramped in there, with virtually no space between each other’s sleeping mats. And although the afternoon started out warm, the temperature dropped overnight to 30 degrees. Making temperature regulation difficult.

Descent to NOC

Waking up in the morning, I packed everything up and grabbed a Pop-Tart before heading down the trail to the NOC. Luckily it was quick, only 0.9 miles, and familiar as I hiked it twice yesterday.

Arriving at the NOC, I set about doing the important things first, like getting a cup of coffee and breakfast food from the general store right when they opened. And since it was a hiker day, I was also able to get a free laundry detergent pod, print out my Smokies permit, try out some samples, and enter some giveaways. After a couple of hours of that, our team maxed out the festivities and got food at the restaurant to go eat by the river. Once we were done, we continued the trail with a little more walking.

Rise of the NOC

Leaving the NOC was a long, steep climb. Lihat juga dghfd. It felt like it lasted forever! But I pulled through, fueled by the burger and fries I ate at the NOC. After completing most of the climb we started walking along the ridge which was a welcome change of pace. Not to mention the most picturesque. Luckily, although it was sunny, it was also relatively cool, which was nice for all the climbing we had. After a couple of hours, we arrived at the next shelter, Sassafras Gap Shelter. We got some water at the shelter and after a brief discussion decided to head over Cheoh Bald to the tent site at Locust Cove Gap. It was probably a little further than we wanted to go that day, but we were worried about how cold and windy it would be at the top of Cheoh Bald. Plus, we wouldn’t have to start the next day with a big climb!

Cheoh Calvo

The climb to Cheoh Bald was a bit exciting, but we all made it to the top in time. The view from the top was quite impressive and we made sure to enjoy it for a few minutes before continuing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, best view of the trip so far. (**For anyone who reads these posts constantly, I think I’ll make this a drinking game. Drink every time you say it was the best view of the trip so far.**)

It would have been nice to stay, but with 2.5 miles to go and the sun setting in the sky, we needed to keep moving so as not to pitch our tents in the dark. The descent was virtually uneventful, with sections of easy and tedious walking interspersed. We arrived at the tent site just before dark and were able to find spots for all of us, with a little creativity. A quick dinner followed and he finally went to bed for the night.

Statistics for the 13th:

11.5 miles

4,088′ ascent, 2,559′ descent

Rufus Morgan Shelter to Locust Cove Gap

5 DSLC (Days since last cathole)…

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