Appalachian Trail 2019, Day 2: Springer Mountain to Gooch Gap

After spending my first night on the trail at Springer Mountain Shelter, day two was shaping up to be the biggest test of the whole section hike - a planned 15.5 miles over to Gooch Gap Shelter, with Sassafras Mountain sitting right in the middle of it. Watch the video below, then read on for how the day actually went.

A Loud First Night

There were about a dozen of us camped at Springer Mountain Shelter that first night, and it turned out to be a nice bit of camaraderie for the start of the trip. The only real disruption was a group of owls that came through around 1am and made an absolute racket, but everyone settled back down and slept soundly after that. I was hoping for more of that same trail camaraderie as the days went on.

Too Much Food, Not Enough Water

Looking back at day one's meals, I'd made too much couscous with my chicken creations for lunch, so the leftovers became a mid-afternoon snack once I topped off water and realized the couscous was a little dry to begin with. Dinner was a chicken teriyaki Mountain House meal, and I barely had room left for the Snickers bar I'd packed for dessert. I'd clearly grabbed more food than I needed for the four days I was carrying - not the worst problem to have, but it meant extra weight on my back.

Getting an Early Start

I swapped my contacts for glasses that morning to save a little time, since I was hoping for a big mileage day and wanted to get moving instead of lingering at a campsite I was honestly enjoying. Small trade-off, but every bit of extra time matters when you're eyeing 15+ miles.

Learning About Dehydration Headaches

Toward the end of the day I started noticing a familiar ache - what I used to call a "basketball headache" back from my playing days, which is really just a dehydration headache. Some Gatorade and a couple of ibuprofen sorted it out, but the lesson was clear: keep the Gatorade going steadily throughout the day instead of catching up after the fact, and keep an eye on pace so it doesn't creep up on me again.

Roller Coaster Terrain and Sassafras Mountain

By mile 10 the trail turned into an honest roller coaster - up and down, over and over, for a couple of miles straight. That stretch led right into Sassafras Mountain, which packs over 600 feet of climbing into a single mile. Water was scarce through this section too, so I had to camel up beforehand to make sure I wasn't caught short on the climb. It ended up being the biggest test of the day, but the views and breeze at the top made the effort worth it.

A Dip Before Gooch Gap

With just over a mile to go, I realized I was ahead of schedule - my original plan had been to stop for the night at Justus Creek. Instead of calling it early, I decided to take a dip in the creek to rinse off and cool down before finishing the last stretch into Gooch Gap Shelter. It was a good call - I got to bed feeling a lot fresher than I had for most of the day, closing out my longest day of the trip at 15.5 miles.