Early in our hike MacGyver came across this friendly creature.....however...he/she did not want to move from the trail. He tries to "gently" nudge him off the trail but to no available...so...he more than nudged him into the woods! This however, was not the end of MacGyver's encounters with snakes. Since he walks faster than me he was most of the time in the lead and one time as he walked and mometarily stopped, a snake did indeed slither thru his legs. Reminded me of the scene in the movie Platoon with Charlie Sheen and the snake!!

Then of course there was the remanence of a snake in a shelter we visited.

Our buddy the squirrel looks to be eating better than us!

This rabbit is hiking faster than us right now!

Bambi hiked with us for a while.

...With Mama Deer close by.

Saw many of these warning signs. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we did not see any bears...only a lot of evidence they were close.

Closest thing we came to seeing a bear.....who was hanging out with Jack Daniels!

Saw dozens of orange lizards. Tastes just like orange sherbet ice cream.

Even saw a goat. A mountain goat?? :)

Saw a fair amount of people hiking with dogs (including a couple ex-servicemen with their service dogs). This particular dog was quite friendly and remarkably smart. Back story is in the next picture.

This is the group of section hikers from Ohio (who like Michigan State :) that were staying at a local Hostel and decided to do a 10 mile day hike this day. And the dogs owner is actually the owner of the Hostel. Apparently the dog "leads" day hikes often with people (without the owner). As he knows this particular section very well he leads and will nudge the hikers back on the trail if they try to deviate. The only thing the hikers need to do (besides hike) is carry the dogs food.

Doesn't that "alleged" pointy cloud above this horse actually look like this animal is a Unicorn?? Riley (granddaughter) asked me to look for a unicorn during our hike...so maybe we found one!?!....just like we found Sasquatch:)

Sasquatch!!...no wait.....that's just another thru hiker that's been on the AT for a LONG time.

This long horned steer was having a staring contest with us....right before he charge!!...only kidding :). But he sure didn't want to move from the trail to let us by. We walked around.