Its been my coldest night on the trail, but I remembered to clip in the sleeping quilt so im nice and cozy. My body let me sleep until 6am.However, you still have to get up in the morning and I feel the chill as I change out of long underwear and into my trail clothes, still damp from the day before.

As I pack up, I'm wearing a puffy jacket jacket to stay warm. I grab my bear canister for a quick poptart breakfast courtesy of my resupply the day before. I think I am going to swith over to nocooking for breakfast. Im finding that i get some good miles in beforw noon while my body is fresh and the day is cooler.However, i cant complqin aboit the weather today. The morning began in whay i thought was fog, but then another hiker reminded me that there is a forest fire going on neat by. Not enough to close the trail, but I can scent it of I smell for it. Its enough to allow me to hike through a haze mosy of the day. Which is a good thing as I remember that i forgot to put sunscreen on my face as I stopped for lunch ontop of Tray Mountain.

The stretch between Unicoi Gap and Dick's creek is called the hardest stretch in Georgia .I plan accordingly. Most days i have a plan a and plan b for how far I want to go.For this section I have A,B, C. 10, 12.5, and 15 miles. I'm 8 miles in at lunch a get a second wind as I pass the 10 mile camp at Steel Gap so I keep going. Unfortunately, the two up hill sections after take the wind out of my sails, so I bail at plan b at sassafrass Gap at 12.5 miles.

All day me and another hiker name He-Bo have been leap frogging each other and we run into eachother again I as come into camp. He had just filled up his water and I came down the mountain. We chat as we set up camp and then I gp down to fill up my own owater and soak my feet in the stream. It feels good tonend a bit esrlier today to rest and relax as the sun is still in the sky. And after my 17.3 miles yesterday, my body is thanking me. Another reason why I planned 3 options fornthe day. I don't quite have my hiker legs yet, but I feeling good with an ~14 mile average for my first 5 days.Tomorrow is a short 8 miles to my second resupply and forst zero day.More about those to come.

He-Bo and I trade trail stories afterwards and another hiker comes in and sets up a bit further down from us.We both comment on how we haven't had a site to ourselves yet, which isnt surprising as we are at the start of the teail and in the bubble. Most people start the trail between February and April.I elected for the end of march partialy because of the weather being a bit warmer and the school year schedule. As I sit and reflect, I also note that I haven't camped with the same people two nights on a row. Some have been slower some have been fast, we all seem to have different A B C plans.

Summary of Progress:

• Miles Completed: 12.5

• Total Miles Completed: 66.8

• Location: Georgia

• Weather: Cool morning warming to the mid 70s.