We picked up the pace today... hiking 20+ miles. This section had some strenous sections but we enjoyed the challenge. The girls seem to have endless energy and I honestly thought they would have wore themselves out by now. Suzi is slowing down some but Maggie continues to be her usual energetic self.

We had an interesting encounter with a bat this afternoon. We stopped on the shore of the lake to have lunch and we saw what we though was a leaf falling from a tree near us. But it landed with a soft "thump". Upon closer examination, we discovered it was a bat. The fall must've stunned it, because it didn't move for several minutes. I grabbed a stick and picked it up. It was starting to move a little more now and we were thankful it was alive. After taking a few pictures, I placed it deep inside a pile of logs in the nearby area.

This section was highlighted by the Upper Whitewater Falls. There are awesome views from the overlook area of the 310' waterfalls. "Sherpa" had rolled his ankle earlier in the trip and we ran out of tape to support his ankle. There were three college students at the overlook who were visiting from the University of Florida. We asked them if they had any type of tape we could have, and fortunately, they had a brand new roll of duct tape in the trunk of their car. I guess you could say we ran into some "trail angels" of sorts at the falls. So they gave us the tape and we proceeded to use it to support Sherpa's ankle.

By this time, we've ran out of snacks and are only left with basic food (i.e. rice, pasta, etc.) So we decided to take a break at NC 281 at the boundary between Sumter and Nantahala Forests. I got the bright idea to see if we could hitchhike to the nearest store to resupply on snacks. We had asked the kids from U of F if there were any stores nearby and they said the only one is a gas station about 6 miles up the road. So we gave ourselves 15 minutes to try to locate a ride to the gas station. The 15 minutes went by and not a soul even looked at us standing there with our thumbs out. So as we were putting on our packs to continue our trip, we saw one last car coming down the road. So I figured we try one last time.. and the guy just blew past us. Then he stopped about a quarter of a mile down the road, turned around and came back to us. He was hesitant at first to give us a ride, the gas station was in the opposite direction he was travelling. We thanked him for stopping and started to walk off, then he decided he'd shuttle Sherpa to the store to get us some food. I stayed behind with our gear and my two dogs who were with us on this trip. I can't remember the guy's name off the top of my head, but I'll give a shout out to him as soon as I find the piece of paper from the trip with his name on it. Needless to say, he was our savior that day. Sherpa arrived back from the store with almost $40.00 worth of snacks and soda. I'd never been so happy to see a bottle of Sprite and a Hostess Apple pie! It was getting dark and we decided to hump it over to the Round Mountain area to set up camp for the night. It was a little rough carrying a large grocery bag of food and a bottle of Sprite while hiking at night. But it was worth it. Once we set up camp near Round Mountain, we warmed several more apple pies over the fire and savored every little bite!

After stuffing myself on snacks and soda, I fell into a deep sleep and slept nearly 12 hours that night. I normally only sleep a few hours on the trail, so it was a great experience to finally get a long night of sleep.

There were some great views from the crest of Medlin Mountain. Most of this section winds along the Chattooga River. We set up camp at Simm's Field, a large sandy area next to the Chattooga River. Great views of the river and very peaceful. A group of college students arrived a little after dark for a few days of fishing. They were a friendly and courteous, even asked if it was ok if they camp at the spot upriver from ours (maybe 100 yards). I'd never had anyone ask permission to camp near me before.. it was refreshing to see a group of young people with manners.

The weather was incredible on this evening, so Sherpa and I decided to sleep under the stars and let the dogs take over the tent. The sky was clear and there were millions of stars for us to gaze upon.