June 5, 2021
Mile Marker: 583
Miles Hiked Today: 25
We all woke up at 6:20 and quickly packed our bags, ate some food, and met our trail angel for a ride to the trail head. We all felt unmotivated to start the day because we had a 25 mile water carry and we were starting late at 7:45.
We decided that we would make it as far as we could until 12:30 and then would siesta until 4. It’s just too hot to hike during the time in between. There is no way I could ever live in the desert.
We started slow as we had 6 liters of water with us and then found a groove walking through the wind farms.
After about 8 miles the trail had us going across a highway on a bridge and I was so excited because there were many semi trucks going by and I wanted to see if I could get one to honk. As I turned, my hat flew off my head and I let out the highest grandma shrill you can think of and then yelled “Grab my hat!” to Planner beside me. She grabbed it with her trekking pole and then we couldn’t stop laughing because of the noise that had come out of my mouth.
I was satisfied though as I got two semi trucks to honk at us. 😂
We walked a little bit further where Some Guy and Tide were sitting and Some Guy had said he heard a scream and then honks and was wondering what had happened. Planner and I were dying of laughter.
It was one of those full belly, crying kind of laughs because we both couldn’t get over the high pitched shrill. I’m laughing even as I write this, if only it could have been on video. 😂
We then settled down and hiked on for a couple more hours until the sun became unbearable and found the perfect shady spot to siesta.
I always feel weird siesting, like I am missing out on miles but now that I have night hiked, I no longer mind hiking late into the night. I know that everything will work out and I can easily set up my sleeping pad to sleep.
I almost prefer night hiking now so that I don’t have to worry so much about dehydration. I can’t say it enough though, I am so excited for the Sierras and not having to worry so much about water. Just a few more days to get through!!
We hiked on 12 more miles to make our total for the day 25. The terrain changed a little bit and showed more bushes and trees which I loved to see.
I played music for the majority of the afternoon which kept me moving along in a nice flow.
We arrived at our campsite around 8 pm and were happy to have water available but the trickle is ridiculously slow. We all have to take long turns to wait to fill up our bottles.
Today felt nice. My legs were rested and it hardly felt like we hiked 25 miles. It’s crazy how many more miles are possible on this trail than the AT.
We are cowboy camping again together squished like sardines and I’m happily in the middle. Hopefully there will be no bugs in ears.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 