For those of you wondering, I am alive! I am in Vermont, getting further north where it is getting cold and where reception is a lot harder to come by.

We have finally encountered some real mountains again. Today, I went above 4,000 feet of elevation for the first time since Virginia. It is nice to have great views once again, but this morning was so foggy that there were none to be had.

As some of you know, I hiked my largest day yet: 50 miles in under twenty-four hours. Afterward, though I couldn’t tell right away, my feet were beat up and tired, and a series of unfortunate events led to my only having one pair of socks – not to mention my shoes that are so worn that I can see my socks through them. All this resulted in a few days of gentle hiking and recovering from such a vigorous hike. Recently, we hiked twenty miles in six hours, which was one of our fastest hikes to date, so I think I am doing better.

We are still generally on target for our finish date of mid-September, and even with the recent cloudy ad rainy weather, we are pushing miles. I am looking forward to the next few states, to finishing the hike strong, and returning to the mitten! (The cooler weather is preparing me for my return).