I’m not sure if I ever fully fell asleep last night. Knowing I was camping in an aggressive bear area I seemed to flinch at every little sound outside my tent. Thank goodness I was setup close to a small stream. The sound of the rushing water drowned out some of the noises outside. This allowed me to doze off at some point.
I was awoken by several large “somethings” close by in the woods. I could tell they were fairly large as every few minutes they’d step on a branch and I’d hear it “crack!” Whatever they were, there were several of them, and they were big and close. What do I do? Sit here like bear bait waiting to be eaten? Do I risk sticking my head out of my tent to investigate? I envisioned me doing so and my head being crushed by bear jaws.
After this self inflicted mental torment went on for about an hour I mustered up enough courage to do it. I couldn’t find my head lamp so I grabbed my phone to use as a light. I slowly unzipped my tent door, quietly, to make sure I didn’t disturb these beasts. I heard a loud snort! I turned my light on full blast on my phone and stuck it out into the darkness. I couldn’t see anything so I slowly stuck my head out and looked around. There it was, not but 15 feet from my tent, one of the biggest bucks I’d ever seen. I stared at it in awe. It stared back at me most likely annoyed— as I was blinding it with my light. I tried to take a photo but my phone camera wouldn’t work. I assume because the light was already on, and the light is needed for the flash in dark pictures, my phone didn’t know what to do. So it did nothing. I shined my light around and saw several other deer grazing nearby. Relieved, I tucked my head back into my tent, and tried to get some more sleep.
I got up, made and ate a quick breakfast, tackled some work items, and packed up. Savage and Bruiser were still there. I said good morning to them and asked them where they were headed for the day. I told them I was taking off but would probably see them up ahead as we parted ways.
I made my way down to Watagua Dam. It was massive with beautiful views to both sides of it. I crossed the dam and took quite a few pictures. I noticed a few hikers that crossed the dam didn’t stop at all to take any pictures. They didn’t really pay much attention to it at all. Strange I thought. How could people ignore such beauty? I took some video as well and continued up the trail.
I was hiking along and glanced to my left and saw a man doing something completely naked. I say “doing something” because when I saw him was naked I immediately turned my head back looking up the trail. Acting like I didn’t see him to save both of us from an awkward moment. Why was he completely naked I wondered? Most people change in their tents. Or so I thought they did anyway.
I stopped at a shelter for lunch. Bruiser and Savage caught up. I forgot to mention they have a dog with them. His name is Princess Ty. Yes, “princess” because they treat him like one:) They ate wraps filled with pepperoni and cheese. It looked good so I added it to my list of food to get when I resupply. The naked man showed up. Though this time he was fully clothed… thank goodness m. I wondered if he saw me earlier and recognized me. Awkward. He told us he hiked the AT before. But back then, some 20 yrs ago, he did it with a 70 lb pack. Wow, I can’t imagine. I finished my lunch and headed out.
I met a guy, PYT, which stands for Pretty Young Thing. He slept in an all girl hostel bunk room one night and earned that name. Aspen, a girl, whom I believe was from Colorado. And Biscuit, a guy from the UK, that ate cookies all of the time. In the UK they call cookies… biscuits. I completed 17 miles today. Not bad. At a shelter for the evening I setup camp, ate dinner, and crawled into my tent to sleep. I caught up on some work items, journaled, and passed out.
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