on behalf of all recovering distance hikers, wish I could be there with you. Say hi to Jeff, Dave, Steve and trashman.
about the 7 pounds, tis true I rolled southbound into Damascus on an empty stomach at the end of summer, without sleeping bag or rain gear. then loaded up 3 pounds of cold weather gear.
yer rollin into the zone now with one third level terrain, according to Warren Doyle (another third being up and another third being down). so yer miles should bump up an extra few, while keeping up a constant level of effort.
You got the long days on your side now.
(Utah) Lone Wolf had a saying. 10 by 10, 20 by 2, and 30 by 6. If you start at 6 am and average 2.5 miles per hour, then you can hit 30 miles by 6 pm. Easy to say, but hard to do.
with your knowledge of the trail, you could pick your spots and make that happen!
best wishes, and give us some news to perk up the day!
Linguini