Day 81

Trail miles: 19.5

Total: 1041.4

There’s a reason that song only goes up to 1,000 miles. That’s his limit and I think it’s a limit for most people. Today was very difficult mentally. I think the cold got to me, but also I was just thinking about how I could be sitting in a coffee shop instead of hiking upwards of 20 miles in the snow. We all feel hungry too. The trail seemed a lot emptier this section, like there are a lot less people for some reason. I have heard that Nor Cal is a popular drop-out spot. All of us are doing are best to keep each other’s spirits up in moments like these. At least Tahoe is just a few days away.

I tried to sleep in, but Krista asked for a wake up call from Lifeguard and that came at 5:20am. It was so cold last night I used a hand warmer for my sleeping bag. The trail was frozen and had those little spikes grow from the ground. Being the first to “break trail” was kinda satisfying, but also unstable. The frozen spikes made a satisfying crunch when you stepped on them, but you didn’t know which way your foot was going to fall when hitting them. Sometimes forward or sideways. The creek crossings should have been a breeze, but all the rocks that are used for getting across were all frozen. On one crossing, I found an easy log to cross upstream and ran downstream to tell the others. While I was filling up my Katadyn water filter, I accidentally let go and it started floating down the heavy creek. Krista and Lifeguard took off after it. Krista ran back across the log and used her trekking pole to set it free from a rock it got caught on. Once it started moving again she lifted it out of the water with her pole! My hero! We all had a good laugh after that fiasco. During lunch, Krista, Lifeguard, Wonka, Seabear, and I hid in Krista’s tent because it kept snowing on and off today. I had oatmeal and it was tasty but not enough. I need to start doubling it. I just started eating spoonfuls of peanut butter after I was done. I fell into two water crossing today (shocker). One was because I stepped on an icy log and slipped in. The second was from me standing on the bank and both feet just slipped on the mud and I landed straight in the water. The mud was very slippery toward the end of the day. Krista had a bad spill on a muddy slope trying to avoid the snow. No trekking poles were broken this time but she ripped her pants and got them covered in mud. We will have to clean them tomorrow, because they would freeze overnight if we tried washing them now. I ate dinner in my tent as I watched Stranger Things. Gotta stay warm! My bear hang went a little smoother than yesterday. I found a tree handing sideways to use. Bad news of the day is that I found out I lost my permit. It also had a receipt of my returned bear canister and a bunch of postcard stamps. At least all can be replaced.