First day

I had a hard time falling asleep last night even though i was tired from the trail maintenance. I eventually got to sleep but ended up waking up around 530 and couldn't get back to sleep so I just packed up my things and watched some tv since breakfast want ready until 630. I made it down to the trail around 730 and took my first official step on my CDT through hike. Unfortunately today would be 13 miles of asphalt followed by 4 miles of hard packed road walking. Luckily the weather was perfect. It was around 55 when I set out, overcast with a light breeze. The road walk went by rather quickly due to the weather. It was a nice wide 4 lane split highway with a shoulder big enough to fit another car and a sidewalk. The wide shoulder made a big difference, normally my main complaint of walking a shoulder of a road is the slant. After a mile or two my ankles are shot, but with this road that wasn't an issue. Another big help was halfway there was a small town with s post office which had a bench to sit on and a nice green yard with a pair of big shade trees to rest under. After that was a big 3 mile long uphill, very gentle grade but it just kept going. About two-thirds the way up I ran into a couple hiking who said that the water where I planned to stop was running well.
Along the road I almost stepped on a swarm of bees. Its been a while since I've jumped like that. I stopped again with a mile to go since there was a great train overpass to relax under. The shade and breeze were wonderful and I found 20 dollars.

By the time I hit the dirt road I was getting worn out. I still did the stretch in 2.5 hours but I also ended up taking 45 minutes of rest. I definitely am not in trail shape. Ah well the best way to get in shape for hiking is to go hiking. I was planning on taking it slow with a big day little day intervals until I got my trail legs back. Today is a big day in milage but it's relatively easy day in terms of terrain. Tomorrow is going to be the opposite with a fairly hard terrain day but small miles.

I was looking forward to cowboy camping again since its been a long time but with the cloud cover I'm not going to take a chance and I'll throw my tent up tonight.