Started the morning with a couple mile hike to the Skyland Resort after hearing they had an  all you can eat breakfast buffet on the weekends. There was cereal,  fruit,  pancakes,  eggs,  sausage,  bacon,  potatoes and biscuits/sausage gravy.

I must have walked back up to the buffet a dozen times before heading back to the trail.

Later I came across a nice cliff overlook the valley and the Skyway driving through.

Feeling good on the trail after breakfast,  I took a little side trail up to Mary’s Rock and was rewarded with one of the best views in the park so far.

A couple girls out for a day hike were nice enough to take my picture and offered me some fruit and trail mix!

Later in the day, on the top of a wooded hill, I heard two crashes. I looked in time to see the rear end of a bear running away. I cautiously crept forward, looking for the source of the second noise.

Turns out it was a deer! We both relaxed after realizing the other wasn’t a bear.

The rest of the day was fairly eventful.  My goal was 20 miles for the day, but that left me in between water sources, so I filled up on extra water, before making camp on the top of a hill.

It was a little windy up there, but it made for easy sleeping on a cool night.