Sprout Day 204 (Monday, October 17, 2016)

We started the day early. It was hard to get up and get going but we were still on the trail around 6:00 a.m. We hiked 16 miles today and we're staying at the Thomas Knob Shelter. 

It was a great day of hiking. We entered Grayson Highlands State Park and it's absolutely beautiful here. The views are amazing, especially with all the colors of the leaves changing. There's so many different reds, yellows, and oranges. It's such a great view looking over to the other mountains.

We were talking earlier about how we have been able to experience the AT in all the different seasons. When Bubbles and I did our shakedown hike it was March (still winter), really cold, and there was snow on the ground. We've hiked through spring, summer, and now fall.

We've been looking forward to this day for a long time. I remember watching YouTube videos of hikers going through the Grayson Highlands and thinking how great it looked and how I couldn't wait to be there seeing what they were hiking through. There are wild ponies up here! We've been waiting to see the ponies for awhile now. It was everything we expected and more. They come right up to you! We even saw a baby nursing off of it’s mom. It was awesome to see the horses with the mountains in the background.

Day: 204
Miles hiked: 16.1
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1697.4
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