Sprout Day 213-214 (Wednesday & Thursday, October 26-27, 2016)

It was hard for us to get going on Wednesday morning. We just couldn't get in the groove and ended up hiking about 12-13 miles. We stopped at this old gravel road to try to figure out if we should make dinner there while it was still light out or keep going and just eat in the dark at camp. I had tried to get water from a piped spring half a mile back but it was completely dry. While we were sitting by the road, a car came up and asked if we wanted a ride to the hostel nearby. We told him no but then he asked if we wanted dinner and we said yes!

He lived not even a half a mile down the rode and told us to throw our packs in his car and jump in. We were excited and didn't know what to expect when we got to his house. To say the least, we ended up going to a zoo! It was a great opportunity to get out of the elements and eat dinner. Then he and his wife asked us to stay the night and told us they would drop us back off in the morning.

All of that sounds good, but the thing is there were so many animals at this place it was crazy. The lady, Denise, was basically Doctor Dolittle. She took in every abused or neglected animal she could. I’m going to try to remember everything ... two horses, a baby deer they were rehabilitating, some cats, eight-plus dogs, a different breed of chickens that looked like they had fur and were wearing shoes, a peacock, one guinea pig, maybe fifteen or more birds, a groundhog that was famous for predicting the weather, and fish. I’m not sure but I'm probably missing an animal or two. This lady took in so many different kinds of animals. Now, I love animals so I didn't really mind too much, but the cats have definitely peed on the bed and/or blanket I was using that night. We did take showers and do our laundry. They also made us dinner which was much appreciated and it was really good. If the smell of cat pee wasn't going to keep me awake, the rooster right out from where I was sleeping was definitely going to keep me awake. That thing started cock-a-doodle-doing at 3:00 a.m. and kept on going all morning long. I guess he was an early riser but man give it a rest!

We got back on trail today at 8:30 a.m. and ended up hiking 20 miles. We are camped at Beauty Spot and the name holds up to the expectations. This place is beautiful with a crazy 360 degree view of the mountains all around us. We got here just in time to see the sun right before it set over the mountains.

Bubbles saw a bear running down the mountain about 5-10 minutes before she got to camp! The trees on the mountains around us all are changing and the colors are just crazy. We're 9.7 miles from Erwin, TN. We can't wait to get there and get our package and some town food. I can taste the cheeseburger already!

We passed a few apple trees on the way here. The apples were huge and delicious. Road spotted them and threw his poles and heavy sticks up to knock them down. It looked like fun so I got in on the action and we ended up with a nice amount of apples.

Day: 213-214
Miles hiked: 20
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1840.6
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bear: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chickens: 15
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 21
Donkeys: 2
Groundhog: 1
Grouse: 1
Horses: 17
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Peacock: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads:
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4

Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1