The weather improved considerably and the hike out to Dicks creek gap was beautiful. I hiked 11 miles and got off the trail at 4:30.

Due to my van breaking down this week I was not able to get back on the trail.

I stayed with a friend in MO and will resume my hiking on Monday in Virginia. I hope to photograph McAffey Knob at sunrise. The following week my sister is flying up to join me for a few days on the trail. This time should do us both a world of good.

It rained as predicted on and off all day and the temperature dropped steadily to the mid 40s. In the late afternoon the wind picked up too. I pushed through 15 miles to Tray Gap shelter. It was an exhausting day. I was one of the last hikers to straggle in at 6:30 and the shelter was full so I had to tent in the rain. After I got settled in for the evening, I recieved a cellphone call from my brother with terrible news. My brother-in-law just committed suicide. Everyone was very shocked. This is the worst kind of news one can recieve on the trail. I was greatful for the kind words and hug from Ashley, one of the NB thru hikers. It was a tough ending to a tough day.

I left my van at Dicks Creek Gap and got a shuttle back to pick up at Neels Gap. This is my first hike of the season and I have made some changes to my gear. I am not too happy with the Arcteryx Needle 65 pack I switched to. I can barely cram the basics in there and I thought it would have more room then my old pack.

The weather was quite pleasant my first day on the trail and I hiked 11 miles… much less than the 16.5 miles my first day out last year. I am surprised how out of shape I got so quickly. The views were very nice, but I discovered that the charger had malfunctioned and the battery was dead in my camera so no pictures from this section. I made it to the shelter mid afternoon and had plenty of time to eat and relax.