Hanging out with the locals

I cannot tell you what an experience it is to wake up to the sound of
loons. Although I have heard them on one other occasion, they always
surprise me with their distinctive calls. They began their eerie
chants this morning around 5am. When we began hiking we saw them on
the beautiful pond we were camped near. This afternoon in the middle
if another pond, we saw a moose with her calf near by. This has been a
special day for wildlife sightings. We were very close to the cow. She
didn't seem to care we were there at all.
The last wildlife encounter I had today was the game of chicken I
played with a red squirrel. He was in the middle of the trail with
some huge nut in his mouth staring me down as I approached. I won, but
just barely. He looked as if he wanted me to challenge him for the nut
and kind of ran toward me. Huh.

We are camped just past Saddleback mountain. It was a long arduous
17.4 miles today. At least we can mark one more huge four thousand
footer off the list. We are trying to get some big days in while the
weather is so nice. It was absolutely beautiful today.