okay, a large bear came through camp at 2:00 AM (last night) and rattled my tent and rolled over a very large dead tree while looking for food. He hung out for about 15 minutes before moving on. It was a little scary for a few minutes.
I was up and on the trail early today - 6:15. hiked up to sunrise mtn. early and had breakfast and watched the sun come up - only a few clouds. there was a shelter/pavilion there with benches to sit on and see the 360 degree views. i think i could see PA, NJ, and NY. i blew through the first half of the day because it was very flat and there were fewer rocks on the trail. by noon i had already gone 13 miles. i stopped to have lunch at hightop mtn. shelter and my friend Indiana Jones was there taking a day off in the shelter. i haven't seen him since duncannon. we had a nice lunch and discussion about the trail the rocks in PA and NJ.
it clouded over late in the afternoon and began to drizzle. i walked by a bird sanctuary and saw several types of large birds. although, i have no idea what they were. this shelter doesn't have a water source so i had to stop about a half mile before and get 4 liters of water. that was okay...it was the last half mile hike that wasn't okay. it was straight up the mtn with all that water on my back. ugh.
here tonight with john (from E. TN), bad hummus, stovie, carolina, and team streetfighter. looks like it could start raining hard at any time. at least the bugs aren't bad tonight.
later,
L
