This past week has been a blur but two things in particular stand out for me.

I miss my friends. The Misfits are the best group of strangers I could have met on the AT. We were an odd group, for sure, but they helped me through some of the most difficult sections of trail (both physically demanding and mentally draining). No matter where I go or what I do, I hope to always have a place among them just as they all do within my heart. No matter if there are injuries, illness, or other hardships; no matter if their pace is different or if they are forced to leave the trail, we are forever a band of brothers and sisters and they are welcome to hike with me any time.

I've hiked a lot of miles already and still have a great many more to go. My original naive goal was to average 100 miles per week - that would have had me finishing the AT in 22 weeks or just over 5 months. Words of wisdom from a trail angel named Miss Janet helped set me on a better path by using the first month (which happens to have a lot of elevation change) to get used to the trail and enjoy myself. But now I'm into my second month and I decided to push myself to find out what I'm capable of. I managed to pull off 109 miles in 7 days and that's while I'm still in mountain territory. However, doing this hurt. Luckily, I didn't permanently injure myself but I am still massaging sore feet and tight calves. I've passed out of NC now so that's 2 of the 14 states completed and TN should be following within the next couple of weeks. Then it's the supposedly grueling 600+ miles of Virginia which I personally think I'll enjoy since it should be warming up quite nicely by then.

I'm sitting in a shelter above a waterfall and have enough data to post this but it'll probably be a few more days before I get good enough wifi to upload more photos. Until then, cheers!