11 May: Hiked 12.5 miles to Sassafras Gap Shelter. Along the way we stopped at Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) and had a nice lunch with a couple of New Zealanders; I had a black bean chilli, fish tacos and a side salad. I also bought a few more resupplies. Forgot to mention we ran across a rattlesnake yesterday. We just walked off the trail to bypass it. The snake pic I took today was from the safety of a foot bridge as we left the NOC. So far this trip we have only seen 1 deer, 1 owl and one of the guys saw the tail end of a black bear running down a hill
12 May: Hiked 15.2 Miles to Cable Gap Shelter. 2nd rattlesnake encounter, this time I was right there as the first man, John, said “snake” right after he passed. The 2nd man, Ryan, was within a foot of the snake directly to his left and reacted by putting his poles between he and the snake until he scrambled out of the strike zone.
13 May: Hiked 7.1 miles to the Fontana Dam visitor center and then caught a shuttle to the Fontana Lodge where we split a room. We ate a few large meals, resupplied for 5 days of hiking through The Smokies and did laundry. The weather forecast looks great for the next five days.
Peace on the Peninsula 