Start: 1718.7
Stop: 1733.1
Today’s miles: 14.4
Total PCT miles: 146.5
I did not want to wake up this morning! I slept so good, that when my alarm went off I actually groaned out loud. Oh well, stuff to get done. I quickly dressed and took my stuff to ship to the UPS store next door. The guy there was quick and efficient, my Fanny pack was going home.. now that I have the pack with the brain on top, the Fanny pack is overkill. Although I do think I’ll end up missing it. My extra food went to Fish Lake, where I should be getting to Thursday.
From there I walked to a different grocery store, why there’s practically 3 within the same block is odd-but this one did have the mio drink mix I like, in a new flavor even, so it was a worthwhile side adventure. I also remembered to get cash back, so another small victory. I came back to the room and packed all my goodies, and then chatted on the phone with one of my favorite humans, Kelly, while I waited for Big Mama, the trail Angel to pick me up.
She got there right before 10am and took me to get a new gas canister before driving me to the trail by Callahans. We popped in, they only had a large one, but I figured at least with it I wouldn’t have to think about gas for awhile. On the way to the trail, she stopped for coffee at a local cash only place. I tried to buy hers for her, but she refused to let me. Instead, she bought ME a breakfast croissant. LADY! That’s not how this is supposed to work! There was no telling her otherwise, and I was very grateful.
I hit the trail around 11am with no real care as to how far I got. There were to be plenty of options to stop, although not that many options for water, so I just needed to make sure I paid attention to that. The trail was gentle with easy ups and downs and it meandered up and around this huge rock that I remembered seeing in the distance back when I was on the ridge line before coming down by Mount Ashland. Pretty neat to be literally right beside it now.
It was truly beautiful. I felt an ease and peace that I had been craving since before starting this trail. I was enamored by the views, smiling every few steps, beyond thrilled to just be able to walk. I knew the snow had me stressed before, but this-walking and knowing there wouldn’t be any snow around any corner no matter what today, was sincerely a relief I didn’t realize I desperately needed.
I found a nice spot with a bit of an overlook to set up camp. It was gorgeous, albeit windy as hell. I ate my dinner, watching the sun set and then read some before typing this up. I think I’ll read a bit more and then try to get some sleep. I may not even need my earplugs tonight with this wind making such a sweet white noise for me. We’ll see! Goodnight!