Packing up from tent city at 7am. It was much warmer camping at 2500′

It rained bit last night. This is the dry spot under my tent.

About 30 minutes into todays hikeI heard some rustling in the woods so I stopped. A couple seconds later a cute little bear cub scampered across the trail, then a second cub. So of course we waited until mama came out before we proceeded…and she even gave us enough time to get out the iPhone for a pic.

Hiking up Sugarloaf Mtn. under ominous skies.

View from Sugarloaf Mtn.

Then the rain came…the first time I’ve hiked in the rain so far in two+ weeks. This is the view from under my pack mounted umbrella. Best piece of gear ever. Kept me completely dry for 8hrs and I didn’t even wear a rain jacket. (Plus you don’t get that uncomfortable dampness from sweating out the jacket.)

Max Patch is spectacular even in poor weather.

Selfie with my umbrella.

You can see another hiker in the distance with their umbrella.

The green tunnel…again.

Wet and muddy boots, but dry-ish feet.

Another 20 mile day and mostly in the rain. The sun popped out for about 5 minutes before the day ended with a pretty good downpour. Luckily, the weather broke just as I was setting up camp and eating.