Sunday, July 8 2018
Mile marker 2625.93 – Mile marker 2635.42: ~10 miles / 15 total miles walked
I was absolutely freezing all night, even with my down hoody and the warm quilt. I hardly slept, but when I did I had some really weird dreams. It’s amazing what kind of crap your mind digs up when you have so much time to think.
I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard some rustling, so I looked towards my food bag and there’s a mouse sitting on top of it, trying to get in. So I clapped my hands and it scurried off.
After that little episode the food bag got tossed out the tent and I shivered my way back to sleep.
Woke up around 6 and took my time packing everything away. Had some coffee and started walking at around 8:30, uphill towards a pass. I encountered some snow today, but nothing really bad. You just have to take your time and watch where you plant your feet. There was some evidence of people cutting switchbacks to save a few feet of distance, but I took the long way. I’ll just walk the path I came here to walk.
I did see quite a few animals, starting with the butt of a marmot as it was running away. 😄 A grouse with 2 chicks was just hanging out in the middle of the trail, not afraid at all.
I was really slow today and it felt like I was getting nowhere. I passed about 15 people heading the other way and nobody seemed to want to even take the time to chat for a minute. Some barely even said hello. I was getting a bit anxious about not finding anyone to hang out with, when I came upon Lucky Strike and Dirty Sink taking a break.
I decided to take a break as well and we headed out together. I had originally planned to do 18 miles today, but when we had made it to a beautiful meadow with awesome campspots after a long uphill climb, we were all pretty much for stopping for the day.
So we hung out, talked a lot and laughed and had a good time, which is just as important as making the miles. I had an early dinner of ramen noodles with spinach, mushrooms and corn and added some cheese, bacon and sunflower seeds. Yummy.
Apart from the mosquitoes that are starting to get bad, it was a really good day. Tomorrow we’ll probably all head out together towards the last campsite before the border. So excited 😀
Keeping you posted.
PS: Apparently that ‘womp womp womp’ sound I’ve been hearing is the mating call of a grouse 😲