July 25th, 2021
Miles Marker: 1550.2
Miles Hiked Today: 31
Journey and I had planned for a bigger mile day today and decided to wake up at 5 am. This morning however, I was full on deep sleep drooling and Journey came over to my tent at 5:20 to wake me up. I shot up startled, and looked around at the smoky sunrise trying to peak through. No wonder I hadn’t waken up yet, it still seemed rather dark out with the smoke.
We hiked out by 6 am along an incredible ridge line where I found myself continuously looking behind me at the sun rise.
It was creeping up over the back of the mountains and through the smoke. It turned the sky pink and red and a deep orange. I hated the smoke, but it did cause some outstanding colors to shine through.
We were excited today as there was a lake to swim in! After 12 miles we reached the lake and were shocked it was only 10 am.. not our normal lunch time break but then again…. We didn’t have a normal lunch time breaks… truth be told, we could break whenever we felt like it. It was a good reminder of this.
So we took a dip, swam across the lake to some bigger rocks, swam back, and had some lunch.
I also made some coffee and hot chocolate. It was a well spent hour break and we were set to head back out to trail.
The trail had us follow a ridge line for most of the day. It was so nice to have views all day even if they were smoky. I was still enjoying myself.
The miles were flying by. Every time we stopped to take a water break I would look down at the Guthooks app and be surprised. How have we already done that much? It’s crazy how many miles we can really do.
We hardly saw any of the hikers from our camp spot the night before besides one gentleman who goes by the trail name Baewatch (His girlfriend is working remote on the west coast so that she can drive out and help him out and hike with him on weekends…what a gal!)
It was nice. I felt fearful they would keep up big miles as well and we would continue to feel claustrophobic, thankfully we pushed ahead.
I have found that the morning miles cruise without listening to anything and then in the afternoon, all I want is something to keep my mind focused on something.
Podcasts are a saving grace.
We made it to camp around 7, the perfect time. I was able to do some yoga, eat a meal, and watch an outstanding sunset. It appears that we keep finding these amazing camp spots that are open to views of an epic sunset.
Tonight’s spot just may be my favorite. It’s quiet and peaceful and bursting with color.
After the sunset Journey and I listened to a meditation app for the first time. I had been using the app Headspace since the beginning of the year but had fallen off while on trail. I figured it would be intriguing to start back up.
It’s been a long day but well worth it. I can’t believe it’s almost August though. I became fearful thinking about how this trip is going to be over before I knew it, then I reminded myself to stay present…stay present.
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 