I got up pretty early unintentionally this morning around 5 to the sound of someone starting their loud truck a couple blocks away. I slept great though so I went ahead and got going. I reached Damascus after only a few miles and it turned out to have more services than it would seem by looking at the map. I got to the DG 30 minutes before opening, so I decided to wait. Another man was waiting also, in a truck. He asked me where I was going so I told him about my travel plans. He was amazed. He then told me of a grocery store a short distance away. Turns out I passed it but it wasn't obvious what it was. Just an independent one. So I went over to that one and they had a great selection of stuff. Got a bunch of meals. No good chocolate, but I did get some real peanut butter for a change. So much better than palm oil substitute. I chatted with the cashier about the store and it turned out it was a Walmart Neighborhood Market that didn't make it. This made me smile, as I enjoy hearing of a Walmart fail. I knew I wouldn't have a store for a long time in the Ozarks so I probably bought too many meals. But oh well better to have and not need it than vice versa . . There was quite a lot of climbing, more steep stuff and lots more gravel today. But it still just feels like I'm in north Georgia. Similar trees, terrain, etc. I did see my first armadillo but they're in GA now too. Native to here though. Gravel is very similar, hard packed most everywhere and of about the same rock size or smaller which is nice. They're so consistent I began to trust going a bit faster on downhills. Other than the occasional, rare washboard, roads were perfect. Not many sharp turns. If there's one major difference, it's road design. They tried very hard to grid everything perfectly but the hills protest. So most roads are very straight with only a few bends as a nod to the terrain. This makes them steep and at times like a rollercoaster which is pretty fun, fly fast downhill on a little roller and roll almost up another one on pure momentum. The first half of the day was outside the national forest and the oil and gas industry is all over the place. There were random little tanks and pipes popping up everywhere. On more than one hilltop was a huge warehouse type building, the size of a small Walmart, with three smokestacks and pipes running everywhere. They were loud but not deafening. They smelled of burning tires with a hint of singed hair. Pretty unpleasant. Didn't appear to have anyone there looking after things either. Although I can't be sure as I couldn't see all the way around them. No idea precisely what they do but I assume it's preparing natural gas for pumping out via pipeline to customers. I really struggled on the first big climb in the middle of the day. It was steep and loose in spots and ridiculously hot. The humidity all morning was very high and cloud cover dominated. But the sun made it's way out and it was blazing and the humidity was still really bad. I just boiled. It wasn't that hard of a climb but when I finally crested the steep part I just creeped along for awhile. I filtered a bottle of water from a small stream and recovered a bit and the next steep step upward didn't feel as bad. I was constantly sweating through everything, then partially drying out on the descents. I began to hope for a downpour, but the clouds cleared as the day wore on. Eventually I dropped into the small town of Hector and got a snack from the little store. Soon after I climbed an even bigger climb and it just never seemed like I would make it to my destination today. But finally I began a a steep descent and turned onto the final road for the day. But it just was up and down and way longer than it looked on the map. I really needed to charge my batteries and so I figured I'd treat myself to a nice forest service campground. Long Pool Campground. It's cool enough here to be tolerable and they must have sprayed powerful insecticide because bugs are non-existent. And water and electric, plus bonus flush toilets! True luxury. Of course I had to pay for the first time of the trip but it's worth it. I'm sure sleeping will be a challenge as there are a lot of people here attempting to perfect the art of redneck camping.