Hit the trails at 5:30 or so and headed counterclockwise, with the intention of meeting Kelly somewhere  — along the way.

I saw a couple of turtles as I stood on the bridge at the start of my hike. I don’t think I have ever seen the water level so low; it looks like the level is at least one foot shy of spilling over the dam. Seems like it will take a lot of rain to raise the level that much. We’ll see how long that takes.

They had a warning sign on the bridge regarding some of the beams which have buckled in the heat.  Never seen that before! These aren’t just 2x4s, either – they are several inches thick.

I ran into Kelly sooner than anticipated, on Ganier Ridge, so we continued counterclockwise in order to maximize the caloric burn.  There was a fantastic breeze, off and on; we haven’t had much of that lately.  The air was much clearer than usual, thanks to the storms that passed through around midnight.  The usual haze was nonexistent, but I expect the storm was pretty much dry here, as the ground was completely dry and cracked, and all the plants were still wilted.

Kelly gave me the lowdown on Barcamp Nashville, which took place Saturday at the Exit In. It was apparently quite a success, thanks to Kelly Stewart and the other organizers.

Kelly ended up hiking 5 miles, while I managed the standard 4.5-mile loop.

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