The last few states have gone by in a blur. I've completed New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and just now Vermont by climbing rock scrambles, enduring the heat, and sticking to the often poorly blazed trail like a post-it note (it's easy to get off trail but also usually easy to find it again). That's 12 states down and only 2 to go. I had never been to Vermont or New Hampshire before and both states are quite beautiful. I have crossed the Green Mountains and soon I shall traverse the White Mountains. Then it's nearly 300 miles of Maine to hike through. The AT in both of these states is considered to be very difficult but I will persevere. I will climb the mountains and scale the boulder fields and I will reach Katahdin triumphant.

Recently, I had two friends stop by to visit me, one in MA and one in VT. I cannot find the words to say how much this means to me so I hope a simple "Thank you" will suffice. When hiking a long trail the rest of the world seems to gradually fade away so connections to it such as text messages, care packages, and visits from friends help to keep it alive.

I pulled off my marathon by hiking 27.9 miles in one day from Shaker campsite to Kay Wood shelter. Some days I feel better than others and this day was particularly pleasant not just for the nice weather and easier terrain but because I felt good when starting out. I had taken a couple of short days right before this and I think that helped out. It took about 13.5 hours from start to finish including all my snack breaks and lunch meaning I just barely managed to keep my 2mph average. I'm happy with that.

The area around Killington, VT is incredibly beautiful. So far Vermont has been my favorite state and hopefully I'll be able to share some more photos soon. I've had terrible signal for the past week and it's not until tonight that I could get enough 4G to attempt a blog post even without many photos. Please be patient until I zero again.