Travel Rabble: AT Day 179 Brown Fork to camping after Rufus morgan shelter

November 4

Brown Fork Gap Shelter to Camping after Rufus Morgan shelter
Miles: 18
Total:1978 (135 to go)

We just realized that we are no longer counting miles up, but rather like a countdown. It really is getting to that point!
We overslept today, but I think we needed the sleep and we only had about 17 miles to go. Our feet were really sore after our encounter with winter-come-early, but they were feeling much better this morning.
There was a surprising amount of climbs today, a reminder that even though we are near the end and trail hardened, the trail still has some challenges in store for us.
We found a great lunch spot on a small bald on top of Cheoah mountain, and the weather really cooperated with us despite the reports calling for rain.
Later in the day we came to the Nantahala Outdoor Center where we had a mail drop waiting. We got in about 10 minutes after closing, but they were nice enough to let us in to grab it. We also sort of lucked out because most of the establishments in the complex are just closing up for the season (we were the last customers in the general store). We contemplated renting a cabin with Starfish and Sherpa, but it was a little more expensive than we expected and they didn't have a TV, so we decided to invest that money into the restaurant there on the river! Jamie had a one pound burger and Shannon had a mixed chili and rice dish called a "Sherpa", which we all were tickled by because that was our friend's trailname. He had to order it too, of course.
The four of us then continued hiking in the dark using our super-duper headlamps. We only had a mile to go, but eventually we realized we'd been hiking way longer than a typical mile and that, while our bellies were full and it was uphill, we were still maintaining a decent pace (it is amazing how accurate we have become at judging the speed of our pace). We eventually realized that we had passed through an open area a good while back that looked suspiciously like a shelter site, but since we didn't see any sign we kept walking. Anyways, Sherpa and Starfish weren't feeling 100% so they took the first open piece of ground and we kept on for another half mile or so. We were in the middle of a huge climb, so we agreed that we may need to go on to the next shelter four or so miles on, but luckily it didn't come to that.
Tomorrow is a 20 miler so it is off to sleep for us. Day light savings time, by the way, is no good for hikers!