Left the camp site bright and early this morning. Every 20 or so miles along the trace, there's a historical site that has one or more signs and sometimes a nature trail you can hike which has small informational signs all along it. Each one matches a theme. I learned about beavers and pine trees! Also some history about how the native tribes were driven out of this area in the 1800s. I'll post some pics of the signs and trails another day when I have faster internet.

This afternoon, the bladder to my camel pak broke...

It may not look too bad, but when I put it on, the water just got squeezed out the top when I tilted forward and flexed my arms forward. So I lost about 1/3 of my total water supply there, and I had 30-35 miles to go to the next town. The trace has little picnic spots with a bathroom and water fountain every 20 miles or so. But I had just left one not long prior and I had a long way to go to the next one. I quickly went through my reserves and I was struggling to stay hydrated most of the day in the hot sun!

That's where I busted out my trusty Lifestraw!

It's a carbon filter water purifier. It's super small and light and lets you drink directly out of dirty water sources. I had to keep an eye out and stop at a few streams today in order to go dunk my mug so I could drink the water out of it with my purifier. I'm in Kosciusko now, and my night is over. I plan on getting another early start tomorrow, now that I'm on my way on the trace there are going to be free campsites every 30 or 60 miles. So I should have a fun time for a while!

In terms of the aerobars, I used them all day with barely any discomfort. This is opposed to me being able to hold no regular hand position for more than an hour without switching to something else. The pads are really comfortable, and the bars are fully adjustable, I ended up moving the pads further back to put the weight a bit closer to my elbows, but another day I may move it forward again. You can also tilt the whole thing up or down for either comfort or aerodynamics. So far I think these aerobars are winners!