Not the best night of sleep. Was sleeping on about a 45 degree angle and constantly waking myself up to roll back up the hill, the last of my boxes arrived around 10 am. I resupplied with a few ramen, spam packets, cheese sticks, and one Mountain House meal to treat myself.

The hiking today wasn’t too hard but I felt a bit sloggish from the lack of sleep. I loaded up my water bottles with mio berry blast energy and tackled the day. We’ve met a Brit named Sophie and she’s hiking with us now. Or until she gets tired of our shit lol. Got into low gap where about 20+ tents were all parked. So many hikers. I think we’ve caught up to the bubble. There’s an 11 year old out here hiking with his dad. When I asked him if he’s going to do the whole thing he said “I’m sure gonna try!”.

15 Milea

Last night was my first time cowboy camping out here on the AT. It’s not very well recommended because of the sporadic weather but I went for it anyways. Mainly because my trail family said I couldn’t do it so I had to save face. Anyways it ended up being a beautiful night and I probably had my best night of sleep so far. Something about sleeping under the stars with nothing between yourself and the night sky is very freeing.

Everyone in our group is feeling good. A couple blisters here and there but not many. Max (my brother) is keeping up and never more than a few minutes behind despite this being his first hike. Sophie has got the trail named Two Toned now because she was going on about her affinity for men with “two toned trousers”. That’s the thing about trail names. They can come from anywhere. Not sure if she’s fond of it but it’s there for now. Anvil is the strongest hiker in the group. He’s completed the PCT which is where we met, the CDT, and this will be his 3rd time on the AT. He also did 13 years in the Army so this is a walk in the park comparatively.

I’m still in high spirits. Im a little sore but nothing out of the ordinary. Getting back on trail is kind of like meeting an old friend. It’s welcomed me back with a warm embrace and a cheery smile. I love this thing called thru hiking. I think everyone should give it a shot at some point. Or maybe just make a point to get away from it all and take a walk in the woods.

Anyways, we are camped at Tray Mountain shelter tonight. We are in top of a mountain but you can see the city lights twinkling in the distance under a dense layer of fog. Maybe I’ll cowboy camp again tonight