Blackbird singin in the dead of night...

I'm in Erwin, TN...gonna be in Virginia in a few days and then for a long time afterwards. It's the longest state of the AT...almost a fourth of the trail. I'm going to make it to Trail Days in a week, which I am so excited about. It's a huge AT festival where hikers from previous years come to meet up with old friends and hikers of the current year get to meet up with people they've hiked with but lost pace with. Megan, Kristin, and Allison came to Hot Springs last week to celebrate my birthday. We had so much fun...whitewater rafting and getting into tiffs with the locals. hehe. I made Allison bring along her bathroom scale and found out I've lost 22 lbs eating candy bars and peanut butter by the spoonful, which I am also stoked about. The hike out of Hot Springs was hard after taking 3 days off. The trail was 8 miles of up and my pack felt heavier than ever. The tips of my toes are still numb from the downhills and I'm thinking an investment in new shoes might be worth the cash. I have also adopted the trailname Blackbird. I am still getting used to it and when people call me, sometimes they have to say it 3-4 times before I relize they're talking to me and respond. As soon as I get used to it, I'll be in Maine and then it will take me months to stop introducing myself to people in the real world as Blackbird.