Critters in all shapes & sizes...

5/14/08 - Started the day with a baby bear encounter! Said the little tyke was itty bitty - smaller than Trinity - and sweet... but not knowing where momma bear was lurking made them EXTREMELY nervous...

• Hiked along Skyline Drive after a pit stop at the Loft Mountain Wayside.
• Found another thru-hiker's wallet at a road crossing along the way.
• Ran into Rangers doing a Peregrine Falcon study - so the fellas chatted them up about the research & what they (as hikers) had to do to become rangers... graciously obliging in the conversation (which I think was a bit of bull - at least on Half-brew's part) they explained the hardships that they've found to accompany their rigorous & apparently highly competitive field.
• Took a break ~5 mi before Hightop Shelter where they ran into ANOTHER baby bear which led them to mom and 3 additional siblings!! That's 5 bears in 1 day!
• 21.5 mi. Returned Hugs' wallet once they arrived at the shelter - ecstatic to have it back and true to his name, everyone got hugs - Half-brew grabbed his butt... awkward...

5/15/08 - Cruised through first 11.5-12 mi - no stops save a few small breaks.

• Until... a 4 hour break at Lewis Mountain Campground & Wayside. Beer, munchies, ice cream.
• Also managed to squeeze in a shower & ticked off the campground attendant by sharing a 50 cent towel after taking a $1 shower. I don't know who to think behaved more comically in this situation... the lady for caring enough about sharing a 50 cent towel to yell or the boys for not forking over an additional half-dollar.
• Brew-hike: bought another 6 pack for the road & drank one at every overlook until rain forced them to pack it in for the night at Big Meadow Lodge.
• Saw a ton of deer along the way.
• Passed 900 mi! Today's total = 20.5 mi.

5/16/08 - Woke up covered in Kibbles 'n Bits. Trinity knocked her food off the bed & all over Hearts!

• Breakfast at Big Meadows Wayside - egg McMuffin w/cheese... delish.
• Didn't leave wayside till noon & hiked 9 mi to Skyland Lodge to decide on plans for the rest of the day.
• Plans heavily dependant on 'summer blizzard' (though nasty, maybe a bit of an exaggeration): cold, rain, fog, wind.
• Decided to stay at Skyland (name sounds creepy - like Michael Jackson's ranch) & got lost trying to find tent/cabin. (I wanna know how they can hike from Georgia to Maine with no maps whatsoever & manage get themselves lost in a campground??!)
• Burned a pile of ticks they found on Trinity - yuck! Amos said he's found at least 15 ticks on himself in the last few weeks but has been able to pinch them all off before they scurried up past his knees.
• When asked if he regretted sending all of his fleece & other warm weather gear home with me he responded with a shaky, "Nah, its all good..." I think that means he's chilly.