Sprout Day 83 (Saturday, June 18th, 2016) (NEED PICTURES)

Today we hiked from Melville Shelter to Kid Gore which was 12.8 miles. It was a humid day and there was a lot of incline in some parts but Vermont is beautiful and it makes it all worth it. We got to climb a fire tower today. The view from the top was amazing, mountains in every direction.

One thing that we noticed today was the amount of black flies. It was ridiculous how many black flies were out. There is nothing you can do about them because they swarm and bite you no matter what. They go into your ears and dive bomb right into your eyes, it's a little crazy. The only thing I've found that helps is walking faster, the faster I walked the less I was being bothered.

When I made it to Kid Gore Shelter I found a spot for the tent and immediately started a fire. The fire seemed to keep some of the bugs away. Rain, Disco, Chicken Foot, Whiskers and two Long Trail hikers were at the same shelter as us tonight. We all had a great evening and ate by the picnic table.

The plan for tomorrow is to get up early to catch the sunrise. We've heard the sunrise is beautiful from this shelter. I'm excited to get up early and catch a nice sunrise and begin the day right.

We heard Ox summited Katahdin today! What an awesome achievement. We are so happy he made it and finished his hike. Ox is a great guy and I know he has to feel so good right now. I wish we could've been there to see his face when he made it to the top! Congrats brother, you deserve it!

Day: 83
Miles hiked: 12.8
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 763.7
Bears: 0
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Horses: 12
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 2
Squirrels: 11
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1