On May 2nd, I left Tom’s Run in the morning and within an hour I walked past the 2016 halfway point, marked by a patriotic wooden post. If I’d started in Georgia I’d have a measly 1,090 miles to go to complete the whole trail. 
But I started in Virginia and didn’t need to do the math to know I still had something like 1,700 left.
Later, I stopped in at Pine Grove Furnace where thru-hikers have their first opportunity to attempt the half-gallon challenge: four pints of ice cream in one sitting. I was already set on mint-chocolate chip, but the place was closed. Bummer.
Did have free wifi and some mushy apples in the hiker box however. Not sure which of those I enjoyed most.
Found a roof at James Fry shelter that night with a few others to dodge a thunderstorm. Lightning sent cracks splitting through the dark for hours while we stayed awake to watch. I turned around once and was mesmerized by our shadows dancing in segmented animation, like flip-book figures on the rear wall.
Nomad