Day 54: Still in the Desert

Mile 583 to 602.

Boom: We woke early and after packing up my sleeping bag, I immediately skittered down to the water source to fill up all of our water receptacles. The water was literally trickling out of a small pipe and about ten people were simultaneously filling, filtering, and going back for more. Fey had packed up camp by the time I returned with my bounty.

The hike was pretty, hot, and hilly. The terrain rotated between desert, burned forest and dense forest. The change was nice, and it gave us a sense of accomplishment even though we weren't making great progress.

 

[sleeping Animal, deserty things, Fey hiking, enormous tree, Boom rocking out, Fey coming to a full halt]

We broke twice to splay out on our newly acquired tyvek ground sheet and rest in the shade. The ground sheet has greatly improved our breaks and makes an hour long nap possible in relative bug free comfort. While lazing we kicked around ideas about the future (what's new) and observed some other hiking couples hike on by.

One thing I have learned on this trip is that when Fey casually states, “I need a break,” or “I need a drink,” this doesn't mean, “I would like to take a break in the next few minutes when we find a good shade spot,” she means “now!”  This happened multiple times throughout the day and I am getting better at halting all activity when these statements are made:)


The last few miles were hot and steep. When we turned a corner and the trail kept heading upward Liz had just about had it. She has reached the breaking point and required an immediate squat in the sand to reboot before we slogged up the last mile to water and good friends.