Date: 2005-02-07
To: Whitley Gap Shelter - 36.7 miles so far
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

The AnimalI spent day 6, Sunday, at Woods Hole Shelter as a day of rest. The weather was glorious and I devoted the day to activities like studying tree buds to try to identify the type of tree (I have a small handout that guides you through it) and trying to start a fire with a pocket Bauch & Lomb magnifier using just the materials you find on the forest floor (result: after half an hour to an hour,lots of smoke, no fire.)The next morning I headed out to Whitley Gap Shelter, 9.9 miles distant, but another 1.2 miles and about a 200-ft. descent off the Appalachian Trail (AT). Nearing the shelter in the afternoon, as I was passing through a tunnel of rhododendrons, I turn a corner at the same time as a "pointing dog" (I don't know what species it was) also turned another corner. I froze, the dog froze, and it stood motionless with its left leg raised and curled and its tail straight out. It was "pointing" at me as if I were a duck or a pheasant! I studied it, waiting to see if its owners would appear. They did, about 30 second later, but that also seemed odd to me: it was a woman, maybe mid-30s, in ordinary clothes, without a backpack or daypack, and a young girl, maybe 10 or 12. The woman said "Oh, she wouldn't hurt anyone", to which I said "I couldn't know that." She then said "Yes, you couldn't know that until I told you. Have a nice hike." I continued on my way.But that's not the animal I want to tell you about. It was an absolutely still evening at the shelter, with almost no sound coming from the forest. I was in my sleeping bag at about 9:45 when I heard the sounds of rustling leaves and panting. An animal had approached, but then stopped about 12 feet away when it saw me.   I turned my mini Maglite on it, but all I could make out were 2 green eyes shining back at me from about 1-2 feet above the ground. If you've ever used a mini Maglite, you'll know that you have to twist the head to turn it on and off, and when you first turn it on, the beam is dark in the center and lighter in a ring around the center. You have to turn it about another 3/4 of a turn to get a bright bream focused on something 10 or more feet away. But I wasn't thinking that clearly. Instead I stood up, took a step or two towards the animal, and held my arm out to try to better illuminate it. At that, the animal turned away and left. As I laid back down, I started thinking: what if it comes back later, maybe after I've gone to sleep? I have a Fox 40 emergency whistle that my cousin Gregg gave me, that I had been carrying in my jacket. I decided to clip it onto a cord around my neck. I figured a sharp blast on that would startle any aggressor and buy me some time. (It's an extremely loud whistle. In fact, if I blew it right now with all might, I'll bet you could hear it! Should we try it and see? Alright, open your window and listen very closely. No, on second thought I'd better not, I wouldn't want to send out a false alarm...) I also took my folding knife, which has a loop of cord through a hole in the handle, and placed the loop of cord around my right wrist. I started wearing the folding knife on my right wrist as I slept; upon being woken, I could have an open knife in my right hand in less than 5 seconds.   An hour or so later (I couldn't sleep) I got up and studied the animal's tracks in the mud and leaves, but couldn't conclude anything. I took some photos of them in the better light of the morning.