Did about 15 miles today including a brutal ascent of Mt Sassafras, which fully lived up to its slogan, “Sassafras, will kick your ass”!

When we got close to the top, we ran into a pair of hikers standing near a third hiker who was sitting down in the trail in pretty bad shape.

Turns out the guy was 60 yrs old and was suffering from heat exhaustion after hauling a 50lbs pack up the mountain and being out of water.

The two hikers, Alex and I, took turns carrying the guys pack down the back side of the mountain to a logging road where we arranged for a hiker hostel to come pick him up.
While we were there, we ran into the civil air patrol, who was conducting training in the area.  They let us refill out bottles from the jugs of water they drive up with.

The night ended with a campfire under the stars near a creek. Prefect ending to a rough day.