Start: 49.6
Stop: 38.3
Today’s Miles: 11.3
Total CDT miles: 44.3
The wind last night was NUTS! It howled and whipped through our tents so much that I was constantly waiting for my trekking poles to come smashing down on top of me.. but they never did. It was a little unsettling, but probably only because my legs were burning and itching enough to keep me awake regardless of the wind, so I noticed it more. I could even hear it through my ear plugs! Either way, we got up and packed and were on trail by 7:45am.
Last night before bed, my charging block went from claiming close to 75% battery to turning off completely.. soooo, I’m a little anxious that something is wrong with it. I’ve used this Nitecore on every trip I’ve been on since buying it during my PCT thru hike, and it’s been incredible-but that also means I’ve been charging it in foreign countries, so I’m wondering if the voltage differences in Belgium (the last place I fully charged it) might have zapped it somehow. This is pretty concerning, seeing how I’m a picture taking queen all day long, and now my phone battery has to last all day today and then 4 more days before we get back to Lordsburg. Because of this, I snapped only a couple of pictures and then turned my phone off.
The morning was fast and flat, sandy trail turning onto dirt roads and letting Pebbles and I just cruise. I snapped a couple of selfies, turned my phone back off, and put it back up.
When we stopped for a break beside a bush that gave a slight bit of shade-I realized I had lost my phone. I was panicked. I looked around the bushes, seeing if when I set my pack down, the phone flung out.. I checked all my pack pockets-nada-so I started walking back to where I knew I snapped the selfies and kept my eyes peeled for it. Pebbles searching the area we stopped at way more thoroughly than I had, while I maybe walked back a mile or so.. I returned empty handed. Shit. And was turned off, so it’s not like anyone could call it..
And then, as I’m about to pick up my pack and I’m running through where to pick up a new phone and all the pictures I lost over the last several days since my back up-plus all of my notes on the trip so far.. Pebbles touches the top of my pack and low and behold-it was rectangular shaped.. I had placed it in the “brain” of my pack, but in my panicked search for it in that pocket, I missed it somehow! Hahaha! All I could do was laugh.
Now, Pebbles and I agree, I have to find some kind of lanyard case or something to keep my phone better tethered to me (I’ve also dropped it quite a bit too.. so graceful). My friend, Andrea, knows that I’m pretty bad about losing my phone or misplacing it on every trip we’ve ever been on together, except for the time when she lost her phone when she hiked the first week of my PCT thru hike with me. Of all the qualities or traits or habits I can rub off on others, this one is NOT the one you want!
High on phone finding happiness, we hiked on. The trail stayed on the dirt road, but it went from flat and cruisy to more of an off-road type situation with gentle climbs in and out of road dips that a jeep driver would love, before turning back into a real trail, surrounded by spiky and pokey things.
We crossed a main road and found the next water cache. Thankfully it was surrounded by trees, so we decided to rest and eat lunch there in the shade. Fresh water, shade, and a breeze.. what more could you want? I’m starting to get quite over the uncrustables, they filled me up the first couple days, but even as I finished eating two for lunch today, my stomach was still growling. Maybe my marathon training/running has my metabolism higher than it normally is, because usually on thru hikes I’m not hungry the first week or two and it’s a constant game of forcing myself to eat. Not this time.
Pebbles shared some of his zinc mineral sunscreen with me, and it seems to be helping more than my original kind did. My legs don’t look too bad. And the itching has subsided. Even still, after lunch, it was all sun and very hot. The trail was flat again, but it was in and out of old river washes-slap dry now of course. I didn’t mind the washes except for the amount of sand and tiny rocks that magically seem to slip into my shoes. Those little suckers hurt!
Mid afternoon, we got lucky and found a huge droopy tree begging us to rest under it. I actually fell asleep, hard. The wind was blowing, the shade seemed complete, I only woke up when I actually got cold! Insane! The dryness out here makes such a difference. At home in 80 degree weather, you still sweat in the shade, out here, I contemplated pulling out my puffy!
Groggy and sleep saddled, we started hiking again closer to 5pm. We made it to a big water tank with a spigot (my favorite, next to water caches of course), and hid in its shade while filling up our water bottles. We met 4-5 other hikers over the next hour of sitting there. All of them continued to be confused about our southbound journey, and one couple literally changed their entire demeanor after realizing that I was triple crowning this hike. I feel like I probably look like an amateur with my bigger backpack and chunky frame (can’t wait for the extra weight to fall off! Lol), but I’ve tried their lightweight backpacks on the PCT and hated it-so it’s me and Large Marge against the world, I guess. And either way, I still have complete faith that I’ll make it to Canada.
Anywho-we ate our dinner in the shade and once the sun started to set, we went off in search of a place to set up camp. It’s windy as hell again, so I think we’re in for another beating from Mother Nature. Pebbles is getting his stretches in, I’m laying here typing this and praying my phone battery makes it. I guess we’ll see! Sleep tight, yall!
