Tuesday, April 12th
Mile Start: 52
Mile End: 68
Days since shower: 3
Temps: 66/45
Morale: Ambivalent
We’re not only hiking on the trail, we’re hiking with all the people that, out of the goodness of their hearts, have helped to create the experience we are having now. -Laura
After a night of hail and way-too-close lightning, we woke to a peaceful and dry morning. The tent was still soaked from the night so we took our time getting ready and let our rainfly dry in the sun for a bit before packing it up.
Our plan for the day was dominated by water, as there are only two places to fill up over the next 15 miles. Our early and ambitious plan was to hike 6 or so miles to the first source, refill, relax and then power on and camp at the second source.
The views were spectacular as we spent a lot of our time hiking along mountain ridges. You can often see the trail ahead and behind for a couple miles in each direction. This can be really fun since sometimes you can pick out people you know along the way. Our favorite person to spot is Red (named for his red rain jacket which we can spot from miles away).
[The Meowster (shout out!), Drying our tent after a night of rain and hail, filtering some fine horse water!, spectacular views with friends and solo stretch along the bottom row.]
Our walk was a little less talkative than normal as we all seemed to find our groove and enjoy the views. We split up from our group at the water stop to spend a little extra time in the shade and tape up my first (very small) blister! Somehow, Liz’s sunglasses got smooshed into the ground and one of the ear pieces broke off. She now has orange duct tape holding them together which adds significantly to her fashion.
Late in the day with about three miles to go, Liz narrowly missed stepping on a snake! We both let out some yelps of surprise and fright, but it simply slithered off the trail and sat under a bush watching us. I caught a glimpse of its tail and it wasn’t a rattler, but it shook us up quite nicely!
The campsite was small with about ten different tents all within a few feet of each other, but there is a nice crowd of people here and we have a spectacular view of the valley. We made an extra special dinner (added in some olive oil and extra spices to our typical lentil/veggie mixture) and Liz did some editing from the trail while I talked to our good friend, Adam Hope who defended his PhD today and passed!
Today was a day of big views!
Our longest day yet has us tuckered out, but we're still in high spirits! Our bodies are holding up remarkably well (knock on wood); I’m quite surprised with us! The night sky is absolutely fantastic. Perhaps at the top of my list, I wish I had a camera capable of capturing the sight. We’re sleeping sans rainfly tonight and enjoying the view; cross your fingers with us that it doesn’t rain:)
Goodnight from the trail!
[100km... we'll take it, our campsite at Rodriguez road, drying socks!, campsite shot.]
