Day 68: Back on trail 45 lbs. lighter

Day: 68 Miles: 7 Trip: 865 Started: Rockfish Gap  Destination: Calf Mountain Shelter

Back on the trail after a long seven day break.  I really missed Mary and it was great to be back home for a few days.  She tried to convince me to wait until Memorial Day but that would have been just too long. It was hard to say goodbye again, but I only have about three months to go.  I hope she can come out a bit in PA and I will of course get to see her more when I get up to NJ.  While at home I weighed in and found that I have already lost 45 lbs!  I knew I had lost a bit of weight but had no idea it was so much.  The trail is indeed a good weight loss plan!

I chose to get back on at Rockfish Gap near Waynsboro because my friends were only a day away.  I decided to do two short days so they could catch up.  Its strange how fast I lost my momentum during the break and getting going was a bit slow.  I still got into the shelter very early and spent the afternoon talking to some section hikers in for the week from Virginia.  Later in the night it started to thunder and lightning pretty hard.  Chin Music and B-Rocket came wandering out of the darkness at about 9:30pm.  I had seen them both very early on in GA but not since.  They were soaked and glad to be out of the lightning.  We made room in the shelter and finally got to sleep at about 10pm.  It felt good to be back on the trail again.

I finally have to replace my first set of shoes (Vasque Mindbeners).  The first pair made it almost 800 miles, pretty good for trail runners!  I had great luck with the first pair and decided to just get another pair.