Sprout Day 186 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)

Last night was a wet night because it rained all night. It started around 9:30 and rained until 8:00 a.m. the next morning. It was lightning, thundering, and raining really hard. After awhile the ground underneath the tent got wet and made the bottom kind of damp. Some of the edges of the tent were wet and everything felt damp but for the most part we were dry.

It was cold first thing in the morning again. With everything being wet we just lay in the tent until it all stopped. We had a little cell service, enough to know we were getting hit with more rain.

We packed everything and headed about 3.5 miles down to the Server Hollow Shelter. It was slippery steep hike down over ledges. The shelter is big and nice with a huge porch area and a picnic table. It felt good to get under something dry knowing rain was coming later in the day.

We decided to stay where we were and dry everything out the best we could. The water source was nice and clear and cold. I'm glad we stayed there because a storm came through not long after we got there. Now, before bed, it’s raining and thundering again.

This shelter is cool. Down by the water source I noticed some ruins of an old house and a couple other buildings. These were the ruins of an old homestead. The Sarvers lived here a long time ago. There's evidence of their house and a cabin. There are also stones which I think was the family cemetery. They say this shelter is haunted by a guy named George. They're not sure if he was a member of the family or not but in the middle of the night sometimes you can hear him walk across the shelter with his cane. We will see how the rest of the night goes but so far nothing but the thunder is giving the place an eerie feeling!

Day: 186
Miles hiked: 3.4
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1515.5
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: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads: 3
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1