Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 97 – The Nacho Puff Nightmare
31st October 2023
Laurel Fork Shelter (1776.5) - US 19E (1803.1)
Daily miles: 18.6
Total miles: 1792
It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be last night. Especially in my tent which I set up in the shelter. Just as a side note, it is pretty bad etiquette to set up your tent in a shelter, but as there were only 3 of us we have more than enough space so it wasn’t a problem.
My tent set up in the shelter in a bid to be warmer
I had no need to wee in the morning so I was very dehydrated.
I ate a cereal bar and an Apple Cider for breakfast. The Apple Cider was just a trick to get more fluid into me. It was tempting to hike in all my layers (because of laziness) but it really wasn’t that cold. My thermometer said it was 11°C / 52°F. The cloud and drizzle made it feel a little cold, so I started in just my rain coat. I left the shelter at 8:15am.
Cal in the shelter with his red light on
This must have been before I started falling over
The trail was pretty rocky to start with and went right alongside the creek before coming to Laurel Creek falls - which was really pretty and the most perfect place to be in the summer when it’s hot - but today was pretty miserable. The trail was really pretty around the falls.
Wet but pretty
The trail goes around these rocks
You would have dry feet if the trail wasn’t covered in wet leaves
Following the creek
Laurel Falls through the trees
Laurel Falls (nice in the summer)
There is a big climb up away from the falls and it is an impressive bit of trail work with a lot of stone steps cut into the side of the mountain. I was having to hike in a way that I didn’t get to sweaty in my coat because as soon as I stopped going uphill the sweat chilled instantly. The temperature had dropped to 6°C / 42°F and it moved between 5 and 6 degrees for most of the morning.
The leaves were slightly better to deal with as they were dampened down by the wet and they weren’t so loud and crunchy, but they were wet, and that made them slippery and it also made my feet wet very quickly. I mean I put on wet shoes which didn’t help but the dry socks were ok for a few minutes. The water coming into my shoes from the leaves was so cold.
I stopped once to pee but other than that it was too cold to stop. After I peed I put my waterproof trousers on as my legs were on the edge of warmth. My body was a good temperature, and my hat came on and off depending on whether I was going up or down hill. And my gloves were on and off a lot too. So I still had layers to play with. But my feet, they were just so cold.
Impressive trail work
Wet rocks
It is a beautiful trail
Like ice this surface
The wet leaves aren’t so crunchy which is nice
Creepy old murder barn
I got to a shelter and Hendrix was there - we had been leapfrogging most of the morning - and another guy was there. He said “it’s Puff Puff” so I thought it was someone I had met but just didn’t recognise. Then I noticed that he had beers lined up and he also had some other snacks he was offering.
I asked him where he had started this morning then I quickly realised it was Guru, who I know from social media but had never met, and he is a friend of May Queens and had arranged to come out and do trail magic which I completely forgot about.
I wanted to just keep moving as I was cold but I knew I should also eat something so I shovelled down some Pringles and cheese. We were looking at the map. We had planned to take a road walk which was a gravel road which cut off about 4 miles of trail. We weren’t missing anything by doing that, it was just more leaves and cloud - plus every time I do an alternative route this time I tell myself that I’ve hiked the whole thing before (and didn’t take any alternates) so I can do whatever I want this time around.
We saw that there was an earlier road walk that took us straight into town so we could walk straight into a warm restaurant and then road walk to the hostel. We had tried to call the hostel to reserve beds but there was no answer.
Hendrix striding out with his long legs
Love the colours
Mixed with the bright greens
Into the mist
Up on the ridge
So many leaves hiding all the rocks!
Trekking poles get heavy wen you pick up all the leaves
Soggy but smiling (because I’m getting close to the road)
These leaves are MASSIVE
Follow the brown trail
We hiked along more slippery leaves and I fell twice which was enough for me to feel justified to road walk. It was also drizzling and just very wet everywhere. Hendrix was ahead of me (much longer legs and walks much faster) but he waited for me at the junction and it was a good job he did because he started walking in the wrong direction.
A short way down the road we were met by angry barking dogs and it was a pretty horrible experience. The first one was particularly viscous looking and angry barking. I held my trekking poles out in front of me ready to give it a good whack if it came for me. I am so glad Hendrix was there with me because I probably would have cried had I been by myself!
The most horrible angry dog
It followed us, barking and getting closer for a while, and then another dog got involved and then 3 horrible yappy dogs joined in. Most scared I’ve been all trail other than that sketchy road walk I did yesterday. They were so loud and there must have been people in the houses - which were all really dodgy looking, lots of Keep Out and No Trespassing signs and lots of ramshackle properties - but we saw no humans.
I think the dogs were all bark and no bite but you just never know with dogs. We were followed for about a mile until they finally quit and we walked down a pretty steep windy hill but at least it was a quiet road. When we reached the main road about 40 minutes later we had a decision to make, go into town and get food or go to the hostel. We decided hostel because we wanted to get a bed.
The road walk was along a very busy main road and although it had a wider shoulder than the one yesterday, and again most people were very nice and pulled right over, there was one car who came way too close for comfort and almost squashed us up against the barrier. The roads are far more dangerous than the trail, especially when you smell weed so strongly as the cars drive by.
Anyway, we survived and got to the hostel at 3:30pm and there was another dog barking at us, luckily he was just pleased to see us and liked a good fuss.
Mountain Harbour hostel
We spoke to the lady there, and some people had phoned and booked. They didn’t get my email but they said Cal had called and reserved 3 beds. Cool.
Robin Hood and Howard were already there. Robin Hood was ahead anyway and came back for SOBO trail days and Howard is injured, but he has already hiked this section NOBO so he hitched here and plans to rest up and hike with us again.
There was food in the fridge which we could eat so I had some pasta which I heated in the microwave, which was perfect as the last 20 minutes of the road walk I was starving, and I drank my Dr Pepper which I had carried all the way from the shelter because it was too cold to drink it.
I jumped in the shower to warm up and put on loaner clothes and chucked in laundry with Hendrix, then I sat. It was nice to be sat. We discussed the next day. It seemed foolish to go out it the bad weather. Tomorrow morning was forecast to be -6°C / 21°F and the high was at 3pm going up to 3°C / 37°F and that’s without the wind chill factor.
The feels like temperature on the mountain forecast for Roan High Knob at 6000ft for tomorrow morning was -20°C / -4°F which none of us are prepared for. Then in the afternoon -14°C / 7°F which is when we would be there and then -8°C / 17°F overnight. It would be foolish to go out there in that. I was sure the others wouldn’t need a lot of convincing to take a zero.
I happily had a cat on my lap, she is 21 years old and a bit blind and a bit deaf. The others arrived a lot later than I thought they were going to, about 6:30pm and they all looked pretty cold. They had acquired a puppy who walked with them for 2 miles so Guru and Jet went in Guru’s van to return the dog.
Life is better with a cat on your lap
Playing Catan
Trying to keep warm
We spent a long time trying to gather orders from everyone for the pizza place only to call and find out it was closed for the evening so they could go trick or treating!
After a lot of deliberation and suggestions and opinions, at 7:30pm Guru did a shuttle to the restaurant 1 mile up the road. Me, Guru, Lemonhope, Late Start (who is younger than the cat), Robin Hood and Cal all went to get food while the others said they would eat food from their food bags. Insane.
I had hiker Mac & Cheese which was Mac & Cheese with chicken in a garlic butter on the top and it was good! I didn’t think I would be able to eat it all but I ate every last bit. The guy in there was really nice and has only been there for 6 weeks. There was also a cat there which sat on my lap for a while.
Garlicky greasy cheesy goodness
Back at the hostel everyone had come to the same agreement that we are zeroing tomorrow. They were playing a board game called Catan which I had never heard of and I found a great hat which I quietly put on and walked around in. I then put on the hotdog costume which I had been carrying for the last 3 days.
Nacho Puff
The Nacho Puff Nightmare
We have here:
Me
May Queen
Toe
Lemonhope
Cal
Howard
Jet
Safety Inspector
Sidequest
Rabbit Foot
Robin Hood
Tinker
Thigh High
Late Start
Hendrix
15 Sobos, plus Guru
Hiker hang out
Such a great find
She was never not on a lap
We stay up too late. It’s 11:50pm now and I am in the same room as Hendrix and Rabbit Foot - who is rummaging through his food bag and eating and he’ll be doing that all through the night.
Thank goodness for ear plugs.
