Monday, 6 August 2018
Tentsite (285.5) – Mike Urich Cabin (305.6): 20.1 miles / 335.3 total miles walked
Today was one of the first days where my alarm actually woke me up. Usually I’m awake about 5 minutes before. I really wanted to sleep more, but I packed up and got a move on at 5:25. The first almost 4 miles to the next water went by quickly, even though there were some steep uphill climbs to tackle.
I was pretty much sleepwalking, listening to an audio book, until I met up with Sink at the water source (0.1 miles down a side trail) and we had coffee and oatmeal.
I left there at 8:30 with a six mile climb ahead of me. It seemed to take forever. I mean it wasn’t too steep most of the time, but it just lasted so long. At 10:20 Anish zoomed past me, with barely the time to acknowledge my hello. Zoooooooom and she was gone. Damn that woman is fast. She is well on her way to completing her calender triple crown.
That means she will have hiked all three of the main long-distance trails in one year. She has already completed the Appalachian Trail, is now almost done with the Pacific Crest Trail, and then she will hike the Continental Divide Trail. Crazy….and amazing.
I made it to the top of the climb by noon, took a short break in the sun and then hauled butt downhill to the next water source, which was still almost 5 miles away.
There were some short but nasty climbs thrown in, but I made it.
Along the way I passed the official marker for the 300 miles southbound. I really need to take less time off if I am going to make it all the way.
I made some food at the water source, because I hadn’t really eaten all day. Thankfully it cooled down a bit, so the last couple of miles were quite easy.
The cabin is situated in a beautiful meadow with a nice stream not far from it, and pit toilets. 😁 Oh the small joys.
Two guys showed up and we had a nice chat with them. Life is so random sometimes.
Two Northbounders also showed up and Sink is having a good time chatting with them. But I am exhausted. It’s almost hiker midnight (9 pm) and I hope I’ll sleep well tonight.
Keeping you posted…