Sprout Day 188 (Saturday, October 1, 2016)

Late last night, around midnight, someone showed up at the shelter. It's insane to think that someone was hiking on those ledges in that weather. It just goes to show you that you never know when someone will show up. It took me awhile to fall back to sleep but when I did I slept great until we got up and I was sleeping really good until they arrived.

We woke up at 4:30 and started packing and getting water boiling for breakfast. It was cold, wet, foggy, and misty out but we had to get down the trail and the weather was supposed to clear up as the day went on.

We ended up going 17.1 miles and we're staying at Wind Rock. It felt good getting a big day in and getting done before the sun set. We had plenty of time to set up camp and go up to the view to make dinner. We had to pack the water we needed for tonight and in the morning from the campsite 1.2 miles back.

Right before I left a hiker came down the hill and I realized it was Flatlander. He's a hiker we met at the Hiker Hostel in New Hampshire. He said he was with The Kiwis, another couple we met up at the hostel too. We were hoping we'd meet up with them soon. I told them where we were camping and they brought water up to camp with us. Bubbles was excited because she's been hoping we would meet back up with them too. I think we're all going to hike together tomorrow and stay in Pearlsburg, VA together.

We're planning 19 miles tomorrow so Bubbles, Whiskers and I are getting up around 4:00 a.m. to start hiking. The weather was perfect today nice and cool. It's cold tonight but I like to sleep when it's cooler. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be as perfect as it was today.

Day: 188
Miles hiked: 17.1
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1532.6
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