Total: 562.2
Rough night last night. I had to keep tucking my nose in my sleeping bag to keep it warm. My spot was sloped so I kept sliding down my sleeping pad. When I woke up I was probably the coldest I have been on trail. Filtering water took a while and my gloves got wet which made me even colder. We hurried up the hill toward the sunlight to warm up again. We went back and forth a bit on whether we should hitch into town tonight, but we couldn’t get the Marriott to cooperate. Krista called the bus which will come tomorrow at 8:16am. We had a 4 mile uphill climb and at the top came across a little area with cabinets, water tanks, and chairs for hikers. We took a short break there and a lunch break 6 miles further down trail. On our last leg of the day, the wind picked up again. It wasn’t too bad coming down the hill, but then we started walking through the wind turbine farm. We were lucky to find these large bushes bunched together to make camp behind. They are perfect and act like a wall against the wind. And there’s so many that we each get our own. I can barely feel the wind in my tent. It’s good that I was able to set it up, because it is going to be cold tonight. I had a very chill afternoon. I made Shepards pie and hot chocolate and watched some YouTube videos. It’s loud because we are basically underneath an endless row of wind turbines, but I’ll put my headphones in and it will fade away. A lot of people were slack packing this section. That is when a hiker gets dropped off and picked up after they hike so they only have to carry the bare minimum for the trip.
I have to mention how difficult it is to go to the bathroom sometimes. First, I’ve accidentally trained my pee response to go off full strength as soon as I take my pack off. So when I’m hiking it’s fine, but as soon as I sit to rest my back, I have to pee immediately, like it’s an emergency all of a sudden. Then there’s trying to pee in these open fields. I just find what bushes I can and pray no one is coming. That’s good because it quick, but going number 2 is another story. It’s always stressful. I’d hate to have someone turn a corner on trail and see my cheeks in their face. I try to go off trail, but it’s not always so easy. And trying to dig a stupid cat hole in rocky ground is just a nightmare. Especially when you waited till the last second, because pooping in the woods is not something you want to do.
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