Woke up early and started hiking in good weather.  I’m trying to put some big miles in and make Daleville by Saturday morning for their trail days.  I’m going to have to do 20 plus miles every day to make it.  

The terrain has gotten kind of rocky and slow going.  Hiking alone does speed things up some.  You can rest when you want and you don’t have wait for any one.  But at my speed with this terrain, I have to hike 12 hours plus to push more than 20 miles.  It does get a little lonely at times, but I have surprised myself at how nice the alone time is.  You see things differently.  I stopped at a nice overlook and had lunch with UTurn and her dad Colonel.  As soon as I left them and headed down the trail, I scared up another black bear.  The second in two days!  This one turned tail and ran away from me at top speed.  I couldn’t believe how fast that bear was.  Really fast.  I don’t think a deer could run that fast.  Running from a bear is definitely not an option.

I hiked with a few breaks and stopped at eight o’clock at the Niday Shelter.  As always I tented rather than use the shelter.  Happy trails.