June 27 - 18.0 / 1,456.4

We woke up without an alarm going off. The sad thing is that we were all awake by 6:30 or 7. Mike was also up. He opened the door and offered to make us breakfast. Again, something we could not turn down. He made scrambled eggs with green peppers and toasted English muffins. The eggs came from the chickens he raises on his property.

We got in his truck, and he took us back to the trail head. We sad our goodbyes. Before he drove off, we spoke about him opening up his land full time to other hikers. We all think it would be a wonderful idea. We all provided input into the pros and cons.

The morning hike was a little warm as we had to walk across some fields. It was nice easy walking though. We made it to the first shelter 5.5 miles in. Passin' Through was sitting there. We told him about the trail magic that he had missed out on. He was a little upset, but knew that he would not have been able to hike those miles. The next few miles took us across the state line into Connecticut. That is nine states down with five to go: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. We got to Ten Mile River at 9.5 miles into the day. We had a late start but made it there in good timing. We decided that it would be good place to eat lunch and relax. All of us either went swimming or soaked our legs in the water. It felt wonderful.

The last 8.5 miles were a struggle for me. It was hot and humid. There was a 3 mile climb, and I think that took everything out of me. I have never sweat so much in my life. Before the climb, the four of us had a little excitement. We came across a BMW just parked on the side of a gravel road. There was also a purse just sitting there. We passed the car and that is when a man with no shirt on came out of the woods. He didn't look like the other, and we felt like he started to chase us. We kicked into our 5th gear and hiked as fast as we could. I have a feeling he was about to use his shirt to break the window and take the purse.

My foot killed me for the rest of the day. The combination of the foot and hot weather caused me to slow down and get behind everyone else. At one point I thought I was going to faint. I sat down, drank some water, and ate as many snacks as I could. I made it into the shelter pretty late. The mosquitoes were terrible. I had to cook my dinner and then eat it in my tent. I could hear them swarming around outside. The evening was one of the warmest we have had yet.