Ruffled grouse “drum” and produce a sound that you feel more than you hear. It sounds like your heart pounding in your head, slowly accelerating from about 50 beets per minute to a pulsating 200+ beats per minute. I mentioned this for 2 reasons, first we’ve heard many ruffled grouse in the past few days and secondly today we descended 2,000+ feet before climbing more than 3,000 feet. Was it the grouse or the ascent?

Much of the day was spent hiking with Rockhound, a cool 28 year-old from PA. We also met Weebles and Tongue-tied, walked and hung out with the Jaybirds, and are tenting with Mongolian and Hawkeye. Lunch at the Nahantala Outdoor Center was a pint of Ben and Jerry’s since the restaurants were closed. A very nice lunch, but no replacement for the burgers & fries I’d been dreaming about!

Beautiful sunset tonight from Cheoah Bald – the winds picked up (we’re around 5,000 feet) But the temps staying around 40 degrees, so the cold snap is well behind us.