The plan for today, March 8, was to begin hiking at the Raven Cliff Falls trailhead and hike for about 10 miles to Jane Cantrell Creek. Most of this hike would be in an area that we have hiked before and were familiar with, so we knew what to expect. Very early in the morning, we drove a car to the Bad Creek Access parking lot, where it was left and would sit for the week. Our plan was to hike to the car by mid-day Wednesday and would provide us the ability to restock food and supplies. We got to the trail head by 10:30 and began our hike. The weather was perfect; not too hot, not too cold and not a cloud in the sky! Someone was watching out for us because we didn't have rain all week long!

We passed a nice couple who live near Table Rock, and stopped for a break and a pleasant conversation near the intersection of the Gum Gap Trail and the Mountain Bridge Trail. They were obviously ex-yankees and picked up quickly on my yankee accent.

The hike from Caesars Head State Park to the campsite at Jane Cantrell Creek was fairly easy and mostly on old roads built in the '30s by the Civil Conservation Corps. At some intersections it is a little confusing which way to go, but if you pay attention and follow the guidebook, you can find your way. We ate lunch at the entrance of the Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve, and made our first water stop at Matthews Creek.

When we reached the campsite at Jane Cantrell Creek, we were surprised to find a rundown camper parked at our campsite. The camper had the look that someone had been squatting here for the past couple of years, with clothes lines run between trees, and rusty folding chairs sitting around an old fire pit. We quickly decided to move on, and I would not recommend planning to camp here. On our way down the trail we noticed what looked like a pile of trash, but on further review, it turned out to be a rotting canvas.. possibly an old tent. We half jokingly said it might have been the last people who tried to camp there!

Fortunately we found a great campsite about 1/2 a mile down the trail on an old abandoned roadbed and quickly setup our tent. Just as we finished, a solo hiker came into camp and asked if he could join us at our site. We gladly offered for him to make himself at home, and swapped jokes about the camper.

All in all, we had a great day. We went to sleep listening to the clear forecasts on the pocket weather radio and thinking about the schedule for the next few days. Tomorrow would be the climb over Sassafras mountain, and 11.8 miles at that. We knew that we had a tough day ahead!