Sun, Aug 8 2021 - Rich Mountain WMA/Cartecay River Tract Hike/Swim (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Grant Brown Participants: Grant Brown, Suzanne, Aaron, A-M, Charina, Dave, Kristi, SusanF, Mike H

We had a very nice hike and dip in the river!  We wound up with about 6.5 miles.  We ran into a fair amount of other visitors and their puppies and the parking lot was full upon our return.  There were a few mountain bikers along the way.  The highlight of the day was that as we were leaving, a little river otter was busy trying to catch his lunch right at the bank where we had just been dipping our feet in the water.  For me, it was a first and was absolutely amazing.  I've heard of otters in the Oconaluftee River in GSMNP, but had never seen one in Georgia.  We were all caught up in the moment and didn't get a picture of him : (.  But, we bidded him farewell and did the short hot hike back up to the cars.

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