Started off the day passing by the Keffer Oak, the largest tree in the south. Over 18ft wide trunk! Its branches were thicker than most trees we have seen so far.

It was hard to get a really good picture that really gives a sense of the tree’s massive size.

The Oak was the first of many landmarks today.  The trail wound up a ridgeline and passed the Audie Murphy monument near the site of the plane crash.

After the monument, the route to the Dragons Tooth began. It was a pretty difficult section of trail with some boulder scrambling/climbing.  And it was made worse by the wind and rain. 

Eventually I made it down to the “tooth” which was pretty impressive.  It was a rocky monolith about 50ft tall.

The last couple miles of the day were pretty rough, climbing down slick wet rock faces and boulders.

It was worth it though, as I passed the 700 mile mark! And a 25 mile day is always better when you can finish at a hostel.  In this case, Four Pines Hostel. Its a three bay garage that has a small kitchen, bathroom, cots/mattresses and a circle of couches for hikers to hang out on.  There were about a dozen hikers there when I showed up, but I managed snag a couch to sleep on for the night. Best of all, it was free, though they did have a donation box (I threw in a ten)

McAfee knob is tomorrow!