START TIME: 5:30 AM 
END TIME: 10:20 PM
Jen’s stomach problems continued this morning. It took her 5.5 hours to hike the first 10.5 miles. She had to use the bathroom every 20 minutes, and she was totally depleted. We had a talk at the road crossing and decided she should press on through the discomfort. I had no idea what to expect at the next road crossing. I thought it might take her forever to make the 12 miles or that we might even have to go in and get her. To our surprise, though, she came chugging toward the road around 3:30. She thanked me for encouraging her to keep hiking, ate a Whopper, and kept plugging right along to the next road crossing where she ate a big ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich.
She covered 32 miles over the last 10.5 hours of the day, which is substantially faster than her pace has been up to this point. Her shins weren’t bothering her as much, she was upbeat in general, but especially happy that her stomach was feeling better and that we were filling it with burgers, pepperoni pizza, OJ, and whatever else she was willing to eat. The first two weeks have really been a roller coaster ride emotionally and physically. We’re hoping that the health issues are behind us and that Jen can settle into some sort of rhythm as we near the kinder, gentler mid-Atlantic states.
GEAR: Some people have been asking about Jen’s gear. Salomon has provided her with new trail shoes called the Synapse. She LOVES them, and they’re very stylish, too—light blue with peachy soles. I think they’ll be out later this year. All of her clothes are Salomon. We got Clif Bars and Honey Stingers from our AWESOME local outdoor store, Diamond Brand Outfitters, and we’re still using the lightweight Snow Peak stove and Western Mountaineering 40-degree down sleeping bags they gave us from Jen’s last record-attempt hike. That has all held up well the past few summers of hiking in Colorado and Europe. Diamond Brand has a website so you can buy stuff online if you don’t live in western North Carolina.
We got hiking poles and a great lightweight tent from Easton Mountain Products called the Kilo. If my memory serves me correctly from secondary school science classes, I’m guessing it weighs 2.2 pounds. Pretty darn light and very comfortable for two people. Also easy to put up.
We’re sleeping on these snazzy new pads from Klymit called Inertia X-Frames. I’ve mentioned twice how much Jen is snoring so you know how comfortable those are. We also have this fantastic all-natural bug spray 45 N, 63 W. I was skeptical that all-natural bug spray would work as well as DEET, but it has worked just as well if not better. So that’s the scoop on gear.