June 6th, 2021
Mile Marker: 615.9
Miles Hiked Today: 33
We started this morning at 5:30 and were able to catch a glance at a beautiful sunrise.
Our goal this morning was to hike 19 miles before noon so that we could siesta for a large part of the day.
Whenever we have these kinds of goals I feel like Planner and I put our heads down and charge down the trail.
When I do this I try to take moments with myself to stay present instead of thinking of other things to pass the time.
What is around me?
What do I hear?
What do I smell?
I am not perfect at doing this all the time but love those moments when I do. It brings me back to why I am out doing this in the first place.
Planner had mentioned today how she thinks we haven’t had a day yet where we don’t cross through some kind of past wildfire burn. I think she is right. I can’t get over how sad that really is.
After a few miles I ran across a small trail magic with some water and twizzlers. We think it may have been left from some of the construction workers nearby. We both devoured one.
Right before we hit our 19 mile mark, we crossed over the 600 mile marker! Time is flying! Almost a fourth of the way done!
We then all made it to a water spring for lunch/siesta. I am finding myself excessively hungry since we have amped up the miles. I will eat a normal meal that I did before but about 15 minutes later I am just as hungry. This makes buying my resupply incredibly difficult. The more food I buy, the heavier my pack is. The heavier my pack is the more I sweat and the hungrier I become. Quite a vicious cycle.
However, we have all also noticed how machine like our bodies are becoming. Eat, hike, poop, on repeat all day, multiple times. On and on and on and on.
Bottleneck and Tide are taking it a little bit slower as they don’t need to resupply in town like the rest of us so we will meet back up with them in Kennedy Meadows before the Sierras.
Later in the second half of our day we reached the best spring yet since town.
It had crystal clear cold water that we all took turns washing off and chugging.
It was so much better than drinking hot water that had sat in our water bottles all day.
Today felt like the trail was giving us a glimpse of what is to come. Showing pine trees and all their glory.
For our last 7 miles the trail then took us out of the pine trees again and into what looked like the desert. Truly, such an unpredictable trail.
We are camping tonight by a water cache provided to us.
I can’t get over how crucial these are for us. If this cache wasn’t here our water carry would be some what like a 35 mile water carry. Where we can only carry 6 liters at a time which makes it all incredibly difficult. These caches help save our backs and our minds.
Thank you thank you thank you!
We are cowboy camping but have found that the wind has kicked it up a notch and is now throwing sand at us. I’m hunkered down in my sleeping bag, hopefully it doesn’t get too hot!
Some Guy mentioned today how he no longer worries about where to sleep at at night anymore. It may not be the “best” spot but when you cowboy camp, you can almost always find a spot anywhere. This saves us a lot of worry for a tent spot and can allow us to go further each day.
Everyday is a learning and growing day.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 