Sprout Day 177 (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)

It felt good to get up early and get on trail. We didn't hear any bears last night but know that there's been a lot of bear sightings just up the trail about eight miles. We've heard there's a bear hanging around Thunder Hill Shelter and has been trying to get hikers food bags all year. I’m glad we didn't go any further yesterday. We can hike past that shelter today and avoid the whole situation.

Last night we heard three different sets of military jets fly over our camp. They were low, I've never heard a jet that loud in my life! It made the ground rubble which was crazy. We looked at the map and saw there's a military base close by.

We went 12.2 miles today and we're staying at Cornelius Creek Shelter. The humidity finally went down a little today (thank goodness) so it was nice weather to hike in early in the day. Right now, in the evening, it's a little colder than it has been, but it still feels good.

There are still not many people on the trail but I did meet an older guy from Ohio. He was from Bluffington or something like that in northwest Ohio. There's been a lot of people on the trail from back home.

Day: 177
Miles hiked: 12.2
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1430.1
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 20
Donkeys: 2
Grouse: 1
Horses: 15
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1

Snake: 2
Squirrels: 12
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1