August 18, 2004

I ate a hearty breakfast this morning.  Two eggs, mounds of bacon, fried potatoes, toast, and three cups of hot chocolate with heaping whipped cream...before hiking out of Hanover, New Hampshire.  For the record, I don't eat like that at home!  Leaving town with a good night's sleep and a full stomach helped to offset my full and heavy backpack. 

My hike began at 7:30 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m., I had hiked right back to my starting point!  Damn!  Somehow, I turned myself around and hiked southward...not a good way to begin my day.  Going northward again, I hiked today, with Luna, a college coed from Michigan.  I hadn't seen Luna on the trail for several weeks so it was fun to chit-chat.  Luna will be leaving the trail in a week to return to college where she is studying to become a nurse.  My hearty breakfast energized me throughout my 17 miles today over Moose Mountain which is an elevation of 2,250 feet and Holt's Ledge, 2,100 feet above sea level.  My feet are tender from carrying a loaded pack, but all else is great!

"I have learned that love does not end, not even with death;

it continues to express itself in ways ever new." -James E. Miller