Well it was 21 when we started and warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees at the end. But it was beautiful, sunny and not too windy. We only saw a couple people near Camp Hoover which was one of the reasons we had so many unusual animal sightings. The first one was when Wanda Hamlin spotted the majestic bald eagle cruzing just over head as the AT hit the first junction and we headed on to the Laurel Prong trail. It came up on us so fast, that none of us were able to react fast enough to snap a photo! Then later, as some of you know there are many large boulders along the Laurel Prong trail and it was here that Taylor Putney spotted, of all things, an albino deer! Dave Borszich our resident professional photographer was off looking for arrow heads for his latest art project and didn’t see it, so couldn’t take a picture! The rest of us were so far ahead that we only heard about it and had to take Taylor’s word for it. Down near the camp we ventured up in to the Five tent area where there was a large fireplace and stone steps/foundation in good repair. When Kelly had everyone lined up taking the first group photo, a large barn owl flew in and landed on a tree behind everyone. Of course, given the choice between taking a photo of owl or her own little flock of chicky’s, Kelly did what any good hike leader would do and you can see from the photo which picture was taken.
We headed down to the camp and the newlyweds Dan Ralston and Jeanne Densmore who sped ahead and got there first, told us that when they came up to the porch to eat, they scared off a rather large black bear who was sunning himself on the porch! Do you think they got a photo? No they didn’t. Even having recently attended a bear seminar and knowing black bears don’t attack humans, they only turned and ran! Of course the bear was gone when the rest of us got there. After lunch we walked up the Mill Prong trail where we saw a few trout swimming around. We headed back on the AT to a great overlook where Michael Seth had the most amazing animal spotting of the day when he saw a snow leopard (editor's note: snow leopards are native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia) sitting on the rocks. Yes, I was able to just get a photo of Michael and Taylor pointing to it, but for some reason it did not show up on the picture!! Now no one is going to believe us! Well we don’t care, we had the best time and can’t wait to go out again to enjoy all the splendor that can be found in this beautiful state park we are so lucky to have in our back yard!
Taylor hike stats
Distance: 8.39 miles (this includes the tent camp, the overlook, and the walk over the bridge at the camp).
Elevation climb: 1626 feet
Duration: 3 hours, 32 minutes, 27 seconds
Pace: just over 25 minutes per mile
Calories burned: 922
Step taken: about 20,000
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