Someone left candy canes in a hiker box (box of free stuff that hikers leave, at various establishments on the trail) and I'm eating one. I made it to Stagecoach Trails RV Resort after hitching a ride from a minivan with a Grateful Dead bumper sticker (Bill said I was #43 this season). Well, I'm the only hiker here today. Which means that the Christian convention people here gave me all of their leftover dinner and I ate around 1,500 calories in five minutes. One of the ministers here climbed Mt. Rainier (glaciated peak, requires mountaineering skills) when she was 21 in 1954. She was in a three person rope team with a guide, and one of only two women to summit that year. I mean climbing as a woman in the 1950s is just extraordinary, and she's the first climber I've knowingly met on the trail. It's windy but I'm just glad I'm not walking anymore.
For the trail, the desert is starting to feel like one. It was clear and warm today and the hills are mostly brown. I popped out the sun umbrella (weighs 7 oz) which helped, but it gets so windy that you have to stow it and use sunblock any way. The hikers are thinning out and I'm starting to wonder if I'll see the people I hiked with yesterday again.
On the gear front; man, I need those insoles. My legs feel fine but my soles are wrecked after 15 miles. I also buckled and called to have my inner tent shipped to me. I'm just not about that ultralight groundsheet lyfe. The tennis ball sized mosquitos flying inside were the last straw. Some hyperlighters (beyond ultralight backpacking) don't even use a groundsheet. The things that would crawl, run, or fly over your face at night; there are no words. My ¾ length sleeping pad is working really well and my down quilt is more than warm enough. The z-lite (popular foam sleeping pad that folds like an accordion) section I cut from my regular length z-lite pad has seen a lot of use. I sit on it every break and put my feet on it when I sleep.
For the trail, the desert is starting to feel like one. It was clear and warm today and the hills are mostly brown. I popped out the sun umbrella (weighs 7 oz) which helped, but it gets so windy that you have to stow it and use sunblock any way. The hikers are thinning out and I'm starting to wonder if I'll see the people I hiked with yesterday again.
On the gear front; man, I need those insoles. My legs feel fine but my soles are wrecked after 15 miles. I also buckled and called to have my inner tent shipped to me. I'm just not about that ultralight groundsheet lyfe. The tennis ball sized mosquitos flying inside were the last straw. Some hyperlighters (beyond ultralight backpacking) don't even use a groundsheet. The things that would crawl, run, or fly over your face at night; there are no words. My ¾ length sleeping pad is working really well and my down quilt is more than warm enough. The z-lite (popular foam sleeping pad that folds like an accordion) section I cut from my regular length z-lite pad has seen a lot of use. I sit on it every break and put my feet on it when I sleep.
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