It rained again in the early morning hours, stopping a little after 6:00. You learn how to keep things from getting quiet as dirty as before, each time you have to deal with packing up your wet gear. It’s hard to take those first few steps out of your tent, but once you get started it gets better.

I left early again on my own. Deets hiked with another guy they call Women’s Wear yesterday, and it sounded like they planned to continue together today. I looked forward to the solitude. It was a shorter day than the last two, I needed the rest, I could tell I needed to take a day off from hiking soon. My legs were weary, the night was not enough to restore them. I was tired an hour into the hike.

It’s funny the mental games you play to keep moving forward. On the uphills I tried not to look ahead more than about ten feet up the trail. I just concentrated on moving forward that ten feet, picking another spot ten feet further, and so an and so on till the end of the day. When the climbing was especially tough I focused on the next three feet in front of me, constantly looking ahead, just three feet, for hours at a time.

I reached the one hundred mile mark when I arrived at the Albert Mountain fire tower. It was a milestone on the trail to reach the one hundred mile mark. All I have to do is walk a hundred miles twenty-one more times and I’ll be done. I climbed the tower and looked at the raw beauty of the mountains. It was hazy, and there was a slight smell of woodsmoke wafting in the air.

Eventually I reached Long Branch Shelter. I had gotten in the habit of setting up my tent and sleeping system immediately upon arrival to the campsite. You tend to get flatter tent sites if you pick one early. Sleeping on a slanted surface is uncomfortable. You tend to slowly slide on your sleeping pad toward the lowest point in your tent as you sleep. I’ve awakened to find myself in a ball in some corner of my tent or other many times already. It can make for a long night and rob you of much needed sleep.