I had a lot of fun getting here. The Whites Creek Trail North Loop was tough to follow, and the downed trees across the trail made for many diversions.

Trail Journal:

1050 – Ready to go. 44°F

1115 – Bawley Pond jct. 3.9 miles – Bliss Spring.

1332 – Bliss Spring. Lost the trail many trees down. Hunters camped near the spring.

1430 – Back on the trail – with water.

Bliss Spring was very low but still running — I should have taken some pictures. I collected enough water for the night and tomorrow morning’s hike as far as Whites Creek. I’m not sure that there’ll be water in Fiddler Spring. If not, there will be water in the big pools along Whites Creek.

I saw the hunters’ camp while I was descending into Bliss Hollow. As I got near to the bottom, I saw one of them on the trail below me. I gave him a shout and checked he knew I was around. When I got to the bottom, we stopped to chat. There were two of them — brothers — They had hiked in from Brawley Pond that morning. He was hunting for squirrels for supper, and His brother was hunting deer on the south ridge of Bliss Hollow. I told him my plan to hike along the bluffs, follow the trail a short way, and then camp on the next ridge over, north of Orchard Hollow.

When I stopped at Bliss Spring to make lunch and collect water, I spent a bit of time rearranging the hunter orange on my pack to make it more visible. I must admit I was not expecting to encounter any hunters. My previous chats with people out hunting, had led me to believe that no one would want to carry a load of meat more than a mile or two. Lesson learned.

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