Day 64: 1000 Miles and Independence Day!

Miles hiked: 21.7

Mile marker: 1009.8

It’s the Fourth of July today! The tall skinny trees on hill is reflected on the water as be begin to walk. The sky is a cool morning blue.

It soon grows bright. The crickets still sing and birds chirp as I stare out at a deep blue lake. Rafiki, Luxy, and I are resting on some rocks enjoying the view.

We continue to walk. It’s past noon when we reach one thousand miles!

Bumper plays A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton and begins to dance.

“37.7% of the way done!” Voyager says.

Rafiki lays on the 1,000 mile marker.

We spend a long time getting photos. It’s a bright and hot sun. Soon we have our legs and arms entangled with one another as we get photos. It’s silly and fun, and we have Bumper take it multiple times for it to be just right.

Voyager and Bumper go ahead. Rafiki, Luxy and I leave a few minutes later.

1000 miles? I thought it would feel big, just like every additional 100 miles feels big. But it doesn’t. I feel like it should feel significant, but it doesn’t. Just another day on trail.

Not a mile later and we reach the next thousand mile marker. We grab a photo and Luxy gets an inReach message.

“I’m at the 1000 mile marker post. How far back are you? It’s from Voyager,” Luxy says.

Welp. InReach messages are always slow to deliver.

After lunch, we cross a sketchy and water-warped bridge. Rafiki crosses it slowly, being careful he doesn’t misstep. He doesn’t want to fall through.

We hike forever up a ridge. The terrain is beautiful. It’s open and I stare off at the distant mountains and trees.

We hike up, up, and up. I keep looking at the top, guessing where Bumper and Savannah might be.

I finally spot Bumper! He’s hiding behind a little stone barrier. He’s been sick all day, so he’s sleeping over here on the ridge.

We backtrack and I see Voyager behind a four foot barrier. We join her.

We’re hoping to see fireworks up here, so we pushed to this ridge.

The four of us cowboy camp. The wind is wild and cold. I feel bad that Bumper is so isolated! But he is sick, and Voyager has an upcoming potential job opportunity that she can’t get sick for.

The sun sets. We pop our heads over the barrier like meerkats to see the golden sunset.

Luxy dresses in all her layers and lays down.

“How cold is it?” Rafiki asks.

“It must be 20 degrees below freezing!” Luxy says.

I’m giggling as I watch her bundle into her sleeping bag. It’s really windy when we sit up, but not THAT cold!

As it gets dark, we close our eyes. Voyager says she can hear the fireworks. I wear earplugs, so I can’t quite hear it. I’m too tired to stay up and spot any fireworks.

What a beautiful evening!