Day 138

Trail miles: 32.6

Total: 2348.2

Beat my biggest day on trail again! Although it didn’t seem like we wouldn’t make it at first. We probably did 12 miles by lunchtime because we kept stopping for one reason or another. At 10:30am, we ran into a bunch of other hikers at a lake. Raechel insisted on jumping in since Brad told her she smelled bad. She ran up the hill to jump in as fast as she could. We scrubbed socks and other clothes in the lake too. I think it’s been 12 days since we’ve done real laundry. Raechel and Lifeguard ate lunch there, but Krista and I planned to wait until after noon. There was a steep climb after the lake which pretty much resembled a pass, but was unmarked. Krista stopped there to eat and I ate about a mile down trail where I found a perfect flat spot in the shade with great phone service. What more could you ask for? I ate lunch quick and got moving. I had 18 or so miles to do after all. I somehow caught up to everyone by the next water source even though it was mostly uphill. My hamstrings really felt the burn! Then my hamstring started like spasming. I had to sit down and stretch. I’m glad it went away because it was kinda painful and hard to walk. By around 5:30pm, we made it to the water source 27 miles in and had dinner there. It was a good break and fuel up for the last 5 miles. And of course one less thing to worry about when I got to camp. The four girls stayed together hiking over 3mph. We passed a hiker who said “ahh my favorite part of the night, when you all spring passed me.” I’m just happy to be included in the fast gang. I jumped off trail before we made it to the cabin. When I have to pee, I barely have time to untie my pants. It’s becoming a problem. Anyway, we camped a little further than the cabin to avoid the huge group of people. It’s overwhelming now how many people are out here doing the same mileage as us. But good news, we ran into Flipper! I’m not sure I wrote about him in earlier blogs but it would have been the first week on trail. And we haven’t seen him since! Crazy how close to a person you can be on trail and never run into them.