AUG 28th

It took me a few attempts to get up. It was still dark but eventually I emerged from my tent. Brr it was cold and so I reached for my puffy.  I visited nature and then began to strip down my tent.
I was still alive staring at the large widow maker nearby especially with that wind last night .

When all done I sipped my tea and shoved a handful of granola into my mouth, drained my tea, clipped my cup to my pack removed and stowed my puffy and then i was ready it was 7 o’clock .
I hit the trail and shivered I may need another layer but then I hate stopping to remove it when I heat up  so I will try and  survive this cold. 
I hadn’t gone far when the trail opened out into a wide area with trails and paths in all directions  and typically with several perfect tent spots without killer trees nearby.
I located the correct trail  and headed up into the woods shortly coming out into  wide open grassland  once across the trail dived back into another forest  that again emerged onto open plains where numerous cows roamed

They looked at me then quickly raced away ,behind them were some amazing views of the surrounding valleys backed by huge mountains. I stopped to stare for several minutes.
Okay miles snail. The trail followed the road for several yards before turning sharply right and heading diagonal across the fields.  I passed seversl cow troughs  but as I had enough water I kept going.

The fields went on for miles as I dutifully followed the trail before it dived into another forest , from now the trail was small hills and bumps  but it was still cold especially when the sun went  in.

I decided to stop for a 15 minute break, I drank some water and scoffed some snacks .
Okay i need to hike faster to get warmer , come on sun. I eventually came to some switchbacks that began to take me down.
As i headed down I was surprised to meet a Sobo coming the other way.
Your starting late  I said  but wished him well just the same .
The trail was  now in its meandering state  but still very pleasant to walk along, okay I spoke too soon as now as I now began to climb, but the climbs were not too bad and I was soon at the top

I had a goal of 20 miles in my head  but this always depends on the terrain ,but I was making good progress.
I checked my watch it was almost 5pm  so I decided to get water at the next spring. I  crossed a wooden bridge and dropped my pack and filled both bottle’s with clear cold water okay  I’m ready to camp except there wasn’t anywhere.

I hiked on and on, nowhere, well nowhere safe.
6 pm came and was quickly followed by 7pm, God this is crap  I thought but then I spotted somewhere and soon had my tent up.
It was almost 7.30 by the time I began to cook far too late.
But after checking my mileage I had completed 24 miles  not bad.

Mileage 24