Quiet campsite to super cool roadside camping spot

Today was hot and rocky!! Tiring day with lots of climbing across steep rocks.  We had originally planned to do a long climb at the end of the day to get it out of the way, but instead stopped just short at random roadside camping spot. 

We passed the biggest tree on the southern section of the AT. 18 feet in diameter.

And I saw my second snake of the trip. A big black snake. Apparently it did not get the memo that I had already seen one snake on this trip and that was plenty.

Pretty uneventful day, until.... 

So, I was setting up my tent and there was a guy there camping with his car. He was by himself. I kind of wondered what his story was but just left him to himself. He started up a conversation and offered me a beer. I didn't want to seem unneighborly, so I accepted his offer:) He had a map of the AT and said he was doing some 'recon' on the trail. Turns out he is attempting to break the record for the fastest assisted thru-hike of the AT. The record is currently held by Jennifer Pharr Davis. 46 days and 10 hours. Cool guy, very laid back. Introduced himself as Karl Meltzer. One of the top ultramarathoners in the country! (He didn't mention that. Al recognized his name) He will have to average over 50 miles a day to make it happen. Yowsa!! Pretty darn cool and very random! We all sat and chatted while we cooked our dinner and when it started to get dark, we retired to our tents and he retired to the back end of his car. You just never know what is going to happen out here! If things go as planned for all, we should see him heading south from Maine in late July.