Everyone knows going into NH that they’re going to have to dial the miles back. So we did. We decided instead of 20 mile days, 16 mile days would be fine.

Somewhere along the line, I decided I want to do the Long Trail. Not right now, don’t worry. I’ve still got 500 or so miles left of this trail to do! However, coming back to this state is a must.

On the plus side, I’ve started hiking much faster. Running from blood sucking insects will do that for you.

No phone, no camera, no iPod, and now I’m using the sun to tell time. My life has become a comedy of electronics errors.

All I remember thinking was, “well there goes the rest of my day.” There was no way I was leaving a dog in the woods alone.

I happily continued to eat my ice cream, little did I know the best thing ever we was about to happen.

Of all of the things in the woods to fear, I never thought a nocturnal songbird would be at the top of my list. Yet here we are.

I was pissed, to be frank. It’s 9:00, we still have three miles to hike, my headlamp is dying, I’m hungry and tired, and I’ve stubbed my toe on every rock on the way up and down this peak.

Barely conscious, I rolled out of my cot/lawn chair to begin what would be the longest day of my hike thus far. Bird had been the one to wake me. It was 11:30 pm, and I was running off almost 2.5 hours of sleep.

One Liner of the Day: “ounces are pounds and pounds are pain” -Bambi Face