The Wonderland Journal

Miles hiked: 3.4 Mile marker: 566.5 Savannah slid into me while we were sleeping. I slid into Rafiki while we were sleeping.  Slopes are a bad idea.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a choice.  It’s light outside before my alarm goes off, which is set for 5:30. I roll…

Miles hiked: 21.6 Mile marker: 563.1 4:00 AM came way too quickly.  The good news: I woke up free of black ants.  The bad news: Let’s just say that I’m going to avoid sleeping on slopes from now on.  My first thought: I’m so tired.  I just feel beat. I…

Miles hiked: 24 Mile marker: 541.5 Last night was looking pretty good until the porch light lit up, ruining any hint of sleep I might get. There was another hiker sleeping about 20 feet away from us. Well, sleep is a relative term.  He spent the night farting, coughing up…

Miles hiked: 19.4 Mile marker: 517.6 The moon is a nightlight out here.  My alarm goes off.  I need to change my ringtone, I think. I hate this sound! I’ve hated it for the past year and keep forgetting to change it! It pulls me out of my light sleep…

Miles hiked: 20.4 Mile marker: 498.2 Aside from the slow leak in my air mattress that leaves me on what feels like an inflatable pool floatie, I was quite surprised to wake up at 10:30 pm and hear the cry of a coyote. I sat up abruptly, remembering I never…

Miles hiked: 23.6 Mile marker: 478.3 It’s a good thing Dad saw me packing my sleeping bag the other day at lunch after I dried it out in the sun.  “Let me see it,” he said, and proceeded to knee on my packed sleeping bag with his whole weight on…

Miles hiked: zero Mile marker: 454.7 The showers don’t open until 6:30 AM. It’s not even 6:00 yet, so I roll around on my half-deflated air mattress until I decide I can no longer be a rotisserie chicken. My portable charger needs to be charged anyway, so I’ll just work…

Miles hiked: 24.3 Mile marker: 454.7 I thought the desert was supposed to be hot. But here I stand, shivering to the bone as the damp cold penetrates my layers. My fingers burn with cold in this slightly windy morning. I should’ve packed my rain pants and gloves with me.…

Miles hiked: 23.8 Mile marker: 430.4 I said 6 AM, but I don’t think I relayed that to Dad. Fortunately, I’m ready before anybody else. This is the first time ever. Unfortunately, everybody else is rushing to get ready because Dad told them 630 when I only told Lucie 6…

Miles hiked: 22.7 Mile marker: 406.6 I thought it was a good idea to leave at 6:30 AM. As I force my new tent — which is a wonderful palace — into its bag, the pungent odor of the pit toilet hits me in the face.  Lucie and I both…

Miles hiked: 14.5 Mile marker: 383.9 I love real beds. Real mattresses and real toilets. My double French braid is halfway pulled out, so I look like I’m rocking a soccer mom haircut from 2010.  My earplugs are out and hiding somewhere beneath the blankets. I wonder what compels me…

Miles hiked: 1.1 Mile marker: 369.4 Today is a day to sleep in, but it’s 5:15 AM when I start shuffling around in my tent. The sun hasn’t yet made an appearance for today, but after I use the restroom (in nature, that is), Bumper is setting up his tripod…