Deer wandered through the shelter area as we crawled out of the tent. Hikers had told us about them the day before and how the place seemed like a petting zoo the way the deer just kept coming through all morning. The other two guys who slept in the shelter got up about 4:30AM and were gone by 5:30, an hour before we got up. I had planned on a 9.4 mile day, but that changed as the day progressed. The only thing we had to do was get close to Catawba so we could dash in the next morning for our re-supply box. Climbing started off the day with a 300' gain to Scorched Earth Gap, then another 750' to Lunch Box Rock at 3,000'. The incline wasn't too bad, but we were still
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