We started off with a buffet breakfast and then drove to our end spot (woody gap) to meet our shuttle diver Ron (Ribeye). It was an hour drive on forest service roads to Springer. We did our negative mile to the summit. At top we took some pictures, signed the trail log and took off. Liv spent most of the day speeding up the trail ahead of Tater and I. She did great. Tater on the other hand was hurting some which made for some slow going. But, we hit our goal of Hawk Mountain. Put in 8.5 miles today. Going to take it a little easier rest of way. Plan is to do 5 miles tomorrow, 5 on tues, then final 3 miles to car on wed. Not as many people out her as last year. Did meet a few folk. 3 thru hikers doing about same pace as us. Aaron, Buck, and Momma Squirel. All retirees. Buck reminded tater and I of Crunchy from last year. Even looks like him. Not sure if we’ll be hiking with them or not tomorrow. With our reduced miles per day it’s unlikely we’ll have a little trail family for this trip. But ya never know. We got to camp at about 4:30, got more water then ate dinner around 5:30. By 6:30 girls were in bed. Supposed to get down to 30 tonight so we’ll see how that goes. Could be an interesting night. We’re all sleeping in one tent so extra body warmth should help. All in all a pretty good day. Super proud of the girls effort. Trail is just as beautiful as I remember it. Until tomorrow…..