Thursday

Back on the trail again. Sometimes getting out of a trail town is
tricky. I finally got back on track and marched 17.5 miles to a great
camping spot with a view. I crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway four or
five times today. It's wierd following a road for so long.

Today started out sunny, hot, and muggy. As I sit here, the wind is
blowing hard and it's lightning. The forecast rernains the same with
30-40% chance of thunderstorms every day. At least it usually doesn't
rain all day.

I don't usually talk about gear, but WOW! What a difference it makes
at times. I was fortunate enough to be able to drop about 3-4 pounds
from my pack. I switched to my ONE pound summer weight sleeping bag,
swapped backpacks, and sent home my Jetboil. My Gregory Jade 60 is a
much more comfortable pack, I felt like I was practically skipping
down the trail. I am not sure what my pack weighs now...I am soooo
curious (I absolutely must find a scale). I will have to do a new gear
list because I hardly have anything I started with.

Oh, and Marge and Lefty are doing really well. I only have two pieces
of tape on them now! Boots are working just fine.