June 29 - 19.4 / 1,476.1

It ended up being a pretty warm night and there was no breeze. I did happen to be awake to hear three trees or large limbs fall during the night. I also heard a good size animal walking around near my tent. I made its way over to within a few feet. Something spooked it causing it to take off. My heart was pounding pretty good though.

The morning started out ok. A few climbs to get they day going and the sweat flowing. My foot felt good until three miles in. That is when the pain got pretty intense. I had to take of my shoe and sock for a little bit. Thank goodness for pain meds. I took one and it eased the pain for the next few hours. We leaped-frogged with Passin' Through a few times. He keeps saying that he isn't going to see us again but we do.

We stopped for water and that turned into an hour long break. I called REI during the break though and order a new hip belt for my pack and a hose for my water reservoir. It is getting moldy again with the heat. The young lady was very helpful. I told her about my situation and in needing a smaller hip belt. She said a men's small was the smallest they had. So I had to cross over the gender line and got a women's extra small. It is for a waist 27 inches and smaller. I can't believe I have possibly lost 5 or more inches off my waist. That is my actual waist too as the pack sits above my hip bones. We also spoke about the trail. She mentioned that it was on her lists of things to do. I told her to do it and also contact me if she had any questions. Hopefully she will check out the blog and even pass it on to some of her co-workers.

I caught up to T and T and a water crossing. I took my shoes off and soaked my feet. Passin' Through passed us as did Fogg. I have seen his name, but this was the first time to meet him. His pack is ridiculously small. He is about to mail more stuff home and get his base weight down to 4.5 pounds. My base weight is probably 20. Ha.

Two other guys passed us. They were waiting on a group of boy scouts. Turns out that one of their leaders what having problems with the heat. They didn't make it as far as they planned last night and were running late to meet these guys for a resupply. I passed them up the trail and made sure they were good to go. The ill leader had gone down another route to seek help.

The day was a lot of ups and downs. I am definitely getting back into the mountains. VA and PA seemed to forget that mountains exists on the east coast.

The original plan was to stop at the shelter. However, we decided to do three more to make the day into town tomorrow shorter. We ate dinner at the shelter and then hiked to a camping spot. The camp site has a better water source so that is nice. Tomorrow we have to deal with road construction. The trail detours and goes an extra 3 miles or so. We are going to try and hitch across the bridge instead as they won't allow us to walk across it. It is only one lane.

Until then, I am off to bed. Thanks for all the well wishes on the foot. I hope to get back to normal soon, but I also might have to finish in a little pain. Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Night, friends.