Sprout Day 101 (Wednesday, July 6th, 2016)

We got up today and hiked two miles to the Trapper John Shelter and had coffee and breakfast. Whiskers was there. He had to move on last night because he was out of water.

It was very hot and humid today, I think worse than yesterday. It didn't help that we were going over some steep inclines. We hiked up Smarts Mountain with the intentions of going down and staying at Jacobs Brook but we got to the top and heard the water source wasn't dry and decided to stay up here tonight.

The water source isn't reliable but luckily today there was plenty of water. It wasn't the best spot to get water but we treated and filtered it before we drank it. We had to get water from a stagnant spring, which wasn't flowing at all.

There's a fire tower at the top and some campsites and a shelter too. We pitched our tent close to the tower. I'm hoping I can get up early tomorrow and climb to the top and watch the sunrise, you can see for miles once you climb to the top. It's a beautiful view, way off in the south we can see Killington Mountain and towards the north we can see The Whites!

Before we started Smarts Mountain we had ice cream at the Ice Cream Guys house. It was awesome being there and seeing some pictures of Mr. Ackerly and to read some of the stories about him. Unfortunately, he passed away this year but really looked forward to seeing the hikers so his family is carrying on his legacy and taking care of hikers this year. We got here and no one was there but there was a sign that said to go around back and get some ice cream from the freezer. I had an ice cream sandwich and Bubbles had an ice cream bar. We charged our phones and used the wifi (free wifi no password)! We were even able to get water from the outside spigot. Thank you so much Mr Ackerly and family for taking care of us hikers, it's really appreciated! There was even a slot to throw away trash which is awesome, pack in pack out is easier when people help along the way.

We all made it to the same spot tonight. People right around us saw bears today, of course I didn't see one, hopefully I see one tomorrow! I ended the day off going back up the fire tower to watch the clouds and fog roll in and went back up to see what it was like right before bed. What a beautiful view. I'm so thankful to be here. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us hopefully the rain holds off until we get some miles in. Signing out with positive thoughts and feeling good. 

Ice Cream Man's House

It was great to read stories from other hikers about Mr. Ackerly

I thought this was cool

Sign to the Ice Cream House

Great little signs to get you to his house off the trail

412 miles to Katahdin!!

View from the trail today!

Trail today

Steps and handles on the trail today, going up!

Flag on the fire tower

Whiskers and I filtering water

Dusk on the fire tower

Day: 101
Miles hiked: 6.7
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 909

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