Another great day on the trail. I walked the first 9 miles alone and found myself falling into a really easy rhythm, climbing Old Blue, Elephant, and Bemis Mountains without taking a break. When Rockhound and Condor caught up we had lunch and walked together in the afternoon.

Condor’s friend ‘DGO’ (trail name: Don’t Got One) joined us for the last 4 miles and will be hiking with Condor for the week.

The sand beach at Long Pond is great. The day was unfortunately cooling down a bit too much for my liking by the time we got there, but it was great for a wade & wash off.

Today was our 3rd sunny day in a row. Nighttime temps were around 50, daytime temps around 70. Just perfect weather for walking. Since my biggest downer on the trip has been rain, I am loving the sun! If the weather could just hold out like this for 2 1/2 more weeks…

There is a camp group here tonight, out for a 7 week/300+ mile trip, a great experience for high school sophomores! A former thru-hiker is here with his 2 boys as well. They’re hiking from Pinkham Notch to Katahdin and planning on finishing around the same date I am (August 12th).

Tomorrow is a 9.4 mile hike into town and I get to see Heather and Tally! I heard loons calling for the first time last night! What an awesome and eerie sound!