After the climb up to Whites Creek Cave and the ridge, I used the compass and GPS to move along the ridge towards Fiddler Spring. There were lots of trees down, but this wasn’t a problem until the last section of the ridge trail before the descent to Fiddler Spring. There the trail is on the edge of the ridge with a very steep and precipitous drop, and there were several trees blocking the trail. Getting around them wasn’t easy in the rapidly fading light.

Once I got to the social trail that leads down to Fiddler Spring, I had to be very careful as the trail is steep, and going down, was a tad fraught with the trail and leaves being wet and slippery from all the rain. I soon saw that the primitive campsite at the spring was already occupied, with a couple of big tarps hanging between the trees.

Approaching the camp, I shouted out, but no one was at home, the occupants were obviously away hunting — which was later confirmed by some shots being fired in the distance. I filled up with water and decided to hike further along the trail to another established primitive campsite that I had previously camped at in March 2023.

My trail Journal:

1515 crossed Whites Creek. Lost the trail near the descent to Whites Creek. Despite the GPS [I] went round in circles before I got it sorted.

1530 heading up to Whites Creek Cave.

16:35 Fiddler Spring — Hunters. Hunting camp at Fiddler Spring, no one there, so I decided to carry on to [another campsite] where I’ve camped before to be well out of their way & near to the trail.

1730 Camped Previous Spot. Getting dark but I just managed to arrive while I could still see.

— Read until late.

Day Three

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