Miles hiked: 28.9
Mile marker: 1892.2
Total ascent: 3300 ft
Total descent: 4900 ft
There’s a beautiful firey sunrise happening behind some trees. Too bad I can’t see it past those trees!
Our walk continues down through the wooded forest. Soft dirt path. Over and under fallen trees.
The chunk of fallen trees gets thicker. I’m flying ahead of the others now, ready to get to our next water source.
For the blowdowns, crossing them looks something like this:
I grab a nub of a branch and place my foot on another one. Then I hoist myself up and gently hop onto the ground.
This log is just high enough for me to crawl under. I grab the broken branch handle, swing myself (and my pack) under, and grab the tree on the other side, hugging the tree until I can rebalance myself on my feet.
This log is full of long branches with pine needles still attached. I step onto a branch, grab the branch of the upright tree on the other side of the log, and pull myself over. Only, because there are so many branches, I have to do a pirouette, my foot lands on a stick on the ground and I lose my foot from under me! I shuffle my feet backward so I don’t fall.
Two miles to go until lunch at the water cache. My feet hurt and I want to break, but I’m so close! In fact, my upper legs and hips hurt too.
The weather is perfect. It’s a bit gray and I’m in the shade, so hiking is quite cool.
I finally reach the water cache! I stretch out under a tree to wait for the others. I listened to 30 chapters of Proverbs today. It’s a good thing I already listens to 1 Kings the other day. It talks about Solomon, King David’s son, who was really wise.
He was so wise that he wrote Proverbs… it is a bummer Solomon started worshiping other gods at the end of his story. That’s a pretty foolish thing to do for a guy so wise.
The others join 15, 20, and 30 minutes later. I end up on a two hour lunch break. The water jug is perched on a stump. Yellow jackets are all around it. I fill my bottles, then pull the whole jug away so Voyager can refill this jug from another jug.
The fat ants crawls all over us as we rest. I help Rafiki with the water later and this time, the yellow jackets follow me!
No thank you!
Only 12 miles to camp! It’s a bit uphill, but I’m keeping a steady three miles an hour. The sun is out now and I’m exposed and hot! I have to put on sunscreen.
I listen to some sermons and my song, You Lead Me. I wonder what I’ll do after trail. I imagine going to a church in Bellingham right afterward, wearing my town clothes with my dirty backpack.
I went to college in Bellingham, Washington. In a way, I feel like I have something I didn’t complete there. Maybe I just miss it. Maybe I feel like I could have done more there. Maybe I’m meant to go back.
Whatever the reason, I don’t know what I’ll do after trail.
Maybe I’ll start my Meatloaf Ministry, where I make G-pa’s amazing meatloaf and give it to people.
We finally arrive at the lake! I rinse off in the sandy water that clouds the water with the smallest movement.
Falling into bed is a welcome relief. I am exhausted!
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